I 


PANDITA  RAMABAI 
SARAS VAT  I 


CLEMENTINA  BUTLER 


DS  479.1  . R3  B8  1922 
Butler,  Clementina 
Pandita  Ramabai  Sarasvati 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/panditaramabaisa00butl_0 


Ramabai  at  work  on  her  translation  of  the  Bible  into  popular  Marathi 


Pandita  Ramabai 
Sarasvati 

Pioneer  in  the  Movement  for  the  Educa- 
tion of  the  Child-widow  of  India 


By  ,/ 

CLEMENTINA  BUTLER 

Chairman  Executive  Committee  American 
Ramabai  Association 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1922,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh : 75  Princes  Street 


Introduction 


A WIDOW  without  resources,  a Hindu  widow 
burdened  with  the  handicap  of  religious 
fanaticism  and  superstition  which  weighed 
down  any  aspirations  for  betterment,  and  hedged 
about  in  all  avenues  of  effort,  and  yet  a valiant 
spirit  which,  recognizing  a vision  and  a command, 
went  forth  for  its  fulfillment.  This  was  Pandita 
Ramabai,  the  courageous  soul  who  first  saw  the 
crying  need  of  the  child-widow,  who  realized  the 
economic  loss  to  the  nation  of  setting  apart  a 
great  class  by  ostracism  to  enforced  inaction;  the 
one  who  realized  the  right  of  the  child  to  live,  to 
work,  and  to  have  development  of  her  powers  in 
spite  of  the  supposed  curse  of  the  gods  upon  her 
life. 

It  was  in  1886  that  this  little  woman,  coming 
unknown  and  unsupported  save  by  her  own 
strength  of  conviction,  landed  on  these  shores  and 
made  her  appeal  for  the  child-widow  of  India. 
Modern,  bustling  America  hardly  knew  that  such 
a class  existed,  and  the  missionary  folk  who  did 
know  were  not  fully  aware  of  the  weight  upon  the 
girl-child  heart  of  feeling  condemnation  because 
of  the  belief  that  the  curse  of  the  gods  was  the 


3 


4 


INTRODUCTION 


cause  of  the  death  of  the  boy  or  man  to  whom 
she  was  betrothed.  So  great  was  Ramabai’s  con- 
viction and  so  high  her  courage  that  immediate 
hearing  was  accorded  her.  As  she  stood  before 
great  audiences,  unconscious  of  fear  because  of  her 
anxiety  to  place  her  message  before  those  who 
could  enable  her  to  break  the  bonds  and  let  the  op- 
pressed go  free,  her  plea  found  a generous  re- 
sponse. Friends  were  raised  up  who  made  the 
pledge  that  they  would  back  her  initial  experiment 
for  ten  years  till  it  could  be  proven  whether  it  was 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility  to  have  the  child- 
widow  of  the  high-castes  educated  and  given  an 
opportunity  for  a life  of  usefulness. 

Among  those  who  pledged  to  this  unique  enter- 
prise the  strong  support  which  made  possible  the 
institution  of  the  Sharada  Sadan — “ Home  of 
Wisdom  ” — , we  find  the  names  of  men  and  women 
of  different  denominations : Edward  Everett  Hale, 
Phillips  Brooks,  Lyman  Abbott,  Judith  W.  An- 
drews, Joseph  Cook  and  Frances  Willard. 

In  1887  an  Association  was  formed  in  the  City 
of  Boston  with  the  names  of  these  Christian  leaders 
as  incorporators  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
this  Institution.  The  Association  has  continued 
not  for  ten  years  but  for  thirty-five,  and  still  exists 
to  carry  on  the  work.  Pandita  Ramabai  on  the 
fifth  of  April  1922  finished  her  task.  A reminder 
of  the  influences  which  made  this  highly  gifted  and 


INTRODUCTION 


5 


unique  personality  able  to  cope  with  the  immense 
difficulties  of  such  a proposition,  and  which  de- 
veloped the  executive  ability  to  carry  it  out  prac- 
tically unaided,  may  be  welcome  as  we  review  her 
accomplishment.  For  those  who  admire  high  cour- 
age and  faith  and  achievement  these  following 
pages  are  written. 

Clementina  Butler, 

Chairman,  Executive  Committee, 
American  Ramabai  Association. 

Wesleyan  Building,  Boston. 


Contents 


I.  Ram abai’s  Vision 11 

II.  Thus  Saith  the  Law  ! . . . .28 

III.  Home  Touches 52 

IV.  Liee  Stories 66 

V.  Schoear,  Saint  and  Servant  . .75 

List  oe  Ofeicers  oe  American  Ramabai 
Association 95 


7 


Illustrations 

PACING 

PAGE 

Ramabai  at  Work  on  Her  Translation  of  the 
Bible  into  Popular  Marathi Title 

Ramabai  on  Her  First  Visit  to  America,  1886.  20 

Tara,  a Child-Widow — Eleven  Years  Old. 

She  Has  Been  Branded  with  Hot  Irons ....  24 

The  Child-Widow  Described  with  the  Brass 
Water  Pots,  Which  She  Must  Fill  at  the 
Milage  Well 24 

Brahmin  Priests  at  Brindaban,  the  Shrine 
City,  Where  Thousands  of  Widows  Reside 
in  the  Temples 46 

Two  Child-Widows  of  India.  The  One  at  the 
Left  Has  Been  Two  Months  in  the  Sharada 
Sadan,  the  One  on  the  Right  Four  Years. . . 58 

Graduates  of  the  Sharada  Sadan 58 

One  of  the  Nine  Great  Wells  at  Mukti,  Which 
Are  so  Deep  They  Never  Fail.  Bullocks 
Pull  the  Water  up  in  Skin  Buckets 60 

Manoramabai — Heart’s  Joy 72 


9 


I 


RAMABAI’S  VISION 

IN  the  great  aggregation  of  races  and  nations 
which  we  call  Hindustan  we  find  not  only  a 
multiplicity  of  faiths  and  religious  customs, 
among  which  are  some  whose  rites  and  customs 
grieve  and  offend  us,  but  also  some  followers  of 
these  whose  high  ideals  lift  them  above  what  is 
undesirable,  and  whose  simple  piety  commands  our 
sympathy,  even  though  we  may  not  agree  with 
their  beliefs.  Such  a man  was  Ananta  Shastri 
Dongre,  a Brahmin  Pundit,  liberal  beyond  the 
teachings  of  his  sacred  writings,  with  a vision 
which  lifted  womanhood  out  of  the  depression  and 
inaction  to  which  Hinduism  had  condemned  her. 
His  marriage,  according  to  custom,  to  Laksh- 
mibai,  a child  of  nine  years,  impressed  him  as 
contrary  to  the  best  interest  of  his  race,  and  her 
absolute  illiteracy  so  distressed  him  that  he  de- 
termined to  educate  the  child,  a course  so  opposed 
to  the  cherished  traditions  of  the  Brahmins  that 
it  brought  upon  him  ostracism  and  even  persecu- 
tion. 

Finding  the  mind  of  the  little  wife  developing 
under  his  teaching  he  persisted,  even  though  it 


11 


12 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


meant  that  he  must  go  to  live  in  some  secluded 
place  where  his  actions  would  not  offend.  There- 
fore he  took  up  his  abode  in  the  forest  of  Gun- 
gamal,  in  Western  India,  in  a spot  so  lonesome 
and  remote  that  often  the  howls  of  wild  beasts 
terrified  the  family  in  the  dark  hours  of  the  night. 
In  this  forest  home  on  April  23,  1858,  a little 
daughter  was  born,  to  whom  the  father  gave  the 
name  of  Ramabai — it  may  be  translated  “ Delight- 
giver  ” — and  he  determined  that  this  little  girl 
should  have  a chance  for  an  education  untram- 
melled by  Hindu  customs  and  restrictions.  The 
child  received  the  most  tender  training  from  both 
mother  and  father,  and  her  memories  of  this  life  in 
the  forest  with  no  companions  save  her  family  and 
the  books  which  they  regarded  as  their  chief  treas- 
ures, remained  vividly  with  Ramabai  through  her 
life.  Ananta  Shastri’s  fame  brought  many  stu- 
dents to  sit  at  his  feet  in  study  of  the  classics. 

Later,  poverty,  resulting  from  the  hospitality  im- 
posed upon  Hindu  teachers,  had  involved  him  in 
debt,  and  finally  the  family  set  out  upon  a pilgrim- 
age, having  no  certain  dwelling-place,  but  wander- 
ing from  one  sacred  locality  to  another,  receiving 
only  the  small  amounts  given  in  gratitude  by  stu- 
dents who  came  for  instruction  to  the  well-known 
Pundit.  The  great  famine  of  the  Madras  Presi- 
dency occurred  during  these  years  of  wandering 
and  bore  with  terrible  suffering  upon  the  pilgrims, 
who,  in  order  to  please  the  gods,  would  give  away 


RAMABAI'S  VISION 


13 


what  little  they  possessed  in  alms  to  the  Brahmans, 
and  then  pray  to  the  gods  to  send  them  gold. 
Ramabai’s  own  account  says : “ We  went  to  sev- 
eral sacred  places  to  worship  different  gods  and 
to  bathe  in  sacred  rivers  and  tanks,  to  free  our- 
selves from  sin  and  the  curse  which  brought  pov- 
erty on  us.  We  prostrated  ourselves  before  the 
stone  and  metal  images  of  the  gods,  and  prayed 
to  them  day  and  night,  the  burden  of  our  prayer 
being  that  the  gods  would  be  pleased  to  give  us 
wealth,  learning  and  renown.  But  nothing  came 
of  this  futile  effort,  the  stone  images  remained  as 
hard  as  ever  and  never  answered  our  prayers. 
We  knew  the  Vedanta,  and  knew  also  that  we 
worshipped,  not  images,  but  some  gods  whom  they 
represented.  Still,  all  our  learning  and  superior 
knowledge  was  of  no  avail.  We  went  to  the 
astrologers  with  money  and  other  presents  to  know 
from  them  the  minds  of  the  gods  concerning  us. 
In  this  way  we  spent  our  precious  time,  strength, 
and  wealth  in  vain.  When  no  money  was  left  in 
hand,  we  began  to  sell  the  valuable  things  belong- 
ing to  us.  Jewelries,  costly  garments,  silver  ware, 
and  even  the  cooking  vessels  of  brass  and  copper, 
were  sold  at  the  last  and  the  money  spent  in  giving 
alms  to  Brahmans,  till  nothing  but  a few  silver 
and  copper  coins  were  left  in  our  possession.  We 
bought  coarse  rice  with  them,  and  ate  very  spar- 
ingly; but  it  did  not  last  long.  At  last  the  day 
came  when  we  had  finished  eating  the  last  grain  of 


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PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


rice,  and  nothing  but  death  by  starvation  remained 
for  our  portion.  Oh,  the  sorrow,  the  helplessness, 
and  the  disgrace  of  the  situation ! 

“ We  assembled  together  to  consider  what  we 
should  do  next,  and  after  a long  discussion  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  better  to  go  into  the 
forest  and  die  there  than  bear  the  disgrace  of  pov- 
erty among  our  own  people;  and  that  very  night 
we  left  the  house  in  which  we  were  staying  and  en- 
tered into  the  great  forest,  determined  to  die. 
Eleven  days  and  nights  (in  which  we  subsisted  on 
water  and  leaves  and  a handful  of  wild  dates)  were 
spent  in  great  bodily  and  mental  pain.  At  last 
our  dear  old  father  could  hold  out  no  longer:  the 
tortures  of  hunger  were  too  much  for  his  poor, 
old,  weak  body.  He  determined  to  drown  himself 
in  a sacred  tank  near  by,  thus  to  end  all  his  earthly 
sufferings.  It  was  suggested  that  the  rest  of  us 
should  either  drown  ourselves  or  break  the  family 
and  go  our  several  ways,  but  drowning  ourselves 
seemed  practicable.  (To  drown  one’s  self  in  some 
sacred  river  or  tank  is  not  considered  suicide  by 
Hindus,  so  we  felt  free  to  put  an  end  to  our  lives 
in  that  way.)  Father  wanted  to  drown  himself 
first,  so  he  took  leave  of  all  the  members  of  the 
family  one  by  one.  I was  his  youngest  child,  and 
my  turn  came  last.  I shall  never  forget  his  last 
injunctions  to  me.  His  blind  eyes  could  not  see 
my  face;  but  he  held  me  tight  in  his  arms,  and 
stroking  my  head  and  cheeks,  he  told  me  in  a few 


RAMABAI’S  VISION 


15 


words,  broken  with  emotion,  to  remember  how  he 
loved  me,  and  how  he  taught  me  to  do  right,  and 
never  depart  from  the  way  of  righteousness.  His 
last  loving  command  to  me  was  to  lead  an  hon- 
orable life,  if  I lived  at  all,  and  serve  God.  He  did 
not  know  the  only  true  God,  but  served  the — to 
him — unknown  God  with  all  his  heart  and  strength ; 
and  he  was  very  desirous  that  his  children  should 
serve  Him  to  the  last.  * Remember,  my  child/  he 
said,  * you  are  my  youngest,  my  most  beloved 
child : I have  given  you  into  the  hands  of  our  God. 
You  are  His,  and  to  Him  alone  you  must  belong, 
and  serve  Him  all  your  life.’ 

“ While  we  were  placed  in  such  a bewildering 
situation  the  merciful  God,  who  so  often  prevents 
His  sinful  children  from  rushing  headlong  into 
the  deep  pit  of  sin,  came  to  our  rescue.  He  kept 
us  from  the  dreadful  act  of  being  witnesses  to  the 
suicide  of  our  own  beloved  father.  God  put  a 
noble  thought  into  the  heart  of  my  brother,  who 
said  he  could  not  bear  to  see  the  sad  sight.  He 
would  give  up  all  caste  pride  and  go  to  work  to 
support  our  old  parents ; and,  as  father  was  unable 
to  walk,  he  said  he  would  carry  him  down  the 
mountain  into  the  nearest  village,  and  then  go  to 
work.  He  made  his  intentions  known  to  father, 
and  begged  him  not  to  drown  himself  in  the  sacred 
tank.  So  the  question  was  settled  for  that  time. 
Our  hearts  were  gladdened,  and  we  prepared  to 
start  from  the  forest;  and  yet  we  wished  very 


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PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


much  that  a tiger,  a great  snake,  or  some  other 
wild  animal  would  put  an  end  to  our  lives.  We 
were  too  weak  to  move,  and  too  proud  to  beg  or 
work  to  earn  a livelihood.  But  the  resolution  was 
made,  and  we  dragged  ourselves  out  of  the  jungle 
as  best  we  could. 

“ It  took  us  nearly  two  days  to  come  out  of  the 
forest  into  a village  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 
Father  suffered  intensely  throughout  this  time. 
Weakness,  caused  by  starvation  and  the  hardships 
of  the  life  in  the  wilderness,  hastened  his  death. 
We  took  shelter  in  a temple,  but  the  Brahman 
priests  would  not  let  us  stay  there.  They  had  no 
pity  for  the  weak  and  helpless.  So  we  were 
obliged  again  to  move  from  the  temple  and  go  out 
of  the  village  into  the  ruins  of  an  old  temple, 
where  no  one  but  the  wild  animals  dwelt  in  the 
night.  There  we  stayed  for  four  days.  A young 
Brahman,  seeing  the  helplessness  of  our  situation, 
gave  us  some  food.  The  same  day  my  father  was 
attacked  by  fever  from  which  he  did  not  recover.” 

After  the  death  of  her  father  and  mother 
Ramabai,  with  her  brother,  travelled  throughout 
India  until  they  arrived  in  Calcutta,  where  op- 
portunity came  for  her  to  take  advantage  of  her 
scholarship.  The  story  of  her  knowledge  and  her 
views  on  the  emancipation  and  education  of  woman 
were  received  with  enthusiasm  by  some  Hindus, 
who  delighted  to  h^ar  the  holy  Sanscrit  from  a 
woman’s  lips.  Her  fame  had  reached  Calcutta, 


RAMABAI’S  VISION 


17 


and  a formal  invitation  was  given  for  her  to  lec- 
ture in  that  great  city  before  the  assembled 
Pundits.  Her  remarkable  scholarship  and  es- 
pecially her  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Sanscrit 
Holy  Books  so  delighted  these  scholars  that  they 
called  a public  assembly  in  the  Town  Hall  of  Cal- 
cutta and  conferred  upon  her  the  highest  title  pos- 
sible in  India  for  a woman — “ Sarasvati,”  “ God- 
dess of  Wisdom.”  She  was  twenty-two  at  this 
time  and  unmarried,  for  her  father  had  refused  the 
offers  which  came  to  him  from  the  time  she  was 
nine,  stating  that  she  was  to  be  a student;  this 
refusal  to  conform  to  the  caste  customs  being 
partly  responsible  for  his  misfortunes.  Her  broth- 
er’s devotion  and  aid  was  sufficient  up  to  this 
time,  and  they  continued  together  the  work  their 
father  had  so  well  begun. 

Again  sorrow  struck  her  heart  in  the  death  of 
her  brother,  whose  constitution  had  been  under- 
minded by  the  ravages  of  famine.  She  was  left 
alone  in  the  world,  but  a few  months  later  married 
a Bengali  gentleman,  Bepin  Bihar i Medhavi,  a 
graduate  of  Calcutta  University.  As  each  was  too 
advanced  for  the  popular  Hinduism  of  the  day, 
they  were  united  by  the  civil  marriage  rite.  After 
nineteen  months  of  happy  married  life  her  husband 
died,  leaving  her  with  a little  daughter,  whom  they 
had  named  Manorama  (Heart’s  Joy).  She  con- 
tinued her  lectures,  and  formed  soon  after  a society 
of  ladies  known  as  the  Arya  Mahila  Somaj,  whose 


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PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


object  was  the  promotion  of  education  among  na- 
tive women  and  the  discouragement  of  child- 
marriage.  She  then  went  from  city  to  city  through- 
out the  Bombay  Presidency,  establishing  branch 
societies  and  arousing  the  people  by  her  eloquent 
appeals. 

Ramabai  now  realized  that  she  herself  needed 
training  to  enable  her  to  prosecute  with  success  her 
work  among  the  women  of  India  on  behalf  of  edu- 
cation. Then  too,  as  she  had  in  her  experience  be- 
come conscious  of  God’s  guidance,  her  spirit  was 
possessed  of  that  unrest  which  is  the  solemn  move- 
ment of  the  soul  Godward,  seeking  the  Lord,  if 
haply  she  (they)  might  feel  after  Him  and  find 
Him.  “ I felt  a restless  desire  to  go  to  England,” 
she  writes.  “ I could  not  have  done  this  unless  I 
had  felt  that  my  faith  in  God  had  become  strong : 
it  is  such  a great  step  for  a Hindu  woman  to  cross 
the  sea;  one  cuts  one’s  self  always  off  from  one’s 
people.  But  the  voice  came  to  me,  as  to  Abraham. 

I went  forth,  not  knowing  whither  I went.”  Be- 
fore leaving  India  Ramabai  wrote  a book  on  Mor- 
als for  Women,  which  furnished  the  money  for  her 
passage.  Friends  were  raised  up  for  her  in  Eng- 
land, where  she  saw  for  the  first  time  Christianity 
at  work.  One  thing  that  impressed  her  was  the  res-' 
cue  work  for  women  as  a new  thing  in  religion,  t 
something  which  not  only  rewarded  the  good  and  i 
virtuous,  but  attempted  even  to  lift  the  fallen;  and  \ 
as  a result  of  her  observations  she  and  her  little 


RAMABAI’S  VISION 


19 


daughter  were  baptized  in  the  Church  of  England 
in  1883.  Having  acquired  English  in  a year  of 
study  in  the  Home  of  St.  Mary  at  Wantage,  she 
secured  a position  as  Professor  of  Sanskrit  at  the 
Women’s  College  at  Cheltenham,  where  she  also 
entered  as  a student  of  mathematics,  science,  and 
English  literature. 

In  1886  she  was  attracted  to  America,  in  order  to 
witness  the  graduation  of  her  cousin,  Mrs.  Joshee, 
from  the  Women’s  Medical  College  in  Philadel- 
phia. Soon  after  her  arrival  here  she  wrote: — 

“ I am  deeply  impressed  by  and  interested  in  the 
work  of  Western  women,  who  seem  to  have  one 
common  aim;  namely,  the  good  of  their  fellow- 
beings.  It  is  my  dream  some  day  to  tell  my  coun- 
trywomen, in  their  own  languages,  this  wonderful 
story,  in  the  hope  that  the  recital  may  awaken  in 
their  hearts  a desire  to  do  likewise.” 

As  her  contact  with  a public  educational  system, 
which  included  girls  as  well  as  boys,  was  prolonged, 
her  old  desire  to  benefit  her  countrywomen  by 
forming  schools  which  combined  the  training  of 
the  hand  with  that  of  the  head  revived,  and,  forsak- 
ing plans  which  regarded  only  the  higher  education 
of  the  few  women  in  government  high  schools  or 
colleges  in  India,  she  concentrated  her  thoughts 
upon  native  schools  founded  by  and  for  native 
women.  Her  first  public  address  was  on  March  2, 
1886,  in  the  parlor  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  in  Phila- 
delphia, where  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour  she 


20 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


held  the  attention  of  the  audience  as  she  spoke  of 
the  condition  and  needs  of  her  sex,  the  life  and  re- 
lations of  Hindu  womanhood,  and  made  an  appeal 
for  sympathy  in  her  proposed  work.  Not  long 
after  this  she  came  to  Boston  and  appeared  on  the 
platform  of  Tremont  Temple.  Many  friends  were 
raised  up  for  her,  and  finally,  Dec.  13,  1887,  the 
Ramabai  Association  was  formed,  with  the  object 
of  giving  education  to  high-caste  child  widows  of 
India.  Her  friends  at  different  places  organized 
Circles  which  pledged  themselves  to  give  annually 
for  the  space  of  ten  years  a sum  of  money  with 
which  she  might  establish  a home  to  train  Hindu 
widows,  especially  the  child  widows  from  high- 
caste  homes,  and  so  enable  them  to  gain  an  inde- 
pendent livelihood.  She  pledged  herself  to  adhere 
in  her  mode  of  living  to  native  customs.  In  regard 
to  the  project,  she  said:  “ I am  fully  aware  of  the 
great  responsibility,  the  trial,  and  it  may  be  the 
failure,  it  will  involve;  but,  as  some  one  must  make 
a beginning,  I am  resolved  to  try,  trusting  that  God, 
who  knows  the  need  of  my  countrywomen,  will 
raise  up  able  workers  to  forward  this  cause, 
whether  I succeed  in  it  or  not.  The  great  majority 
of  my  country  people  being  bitterly  opposed  to  the 
education  of  women,  there  is  little  hope  of  my  get- 
ting from  them  either  good  words  or  pecuniary 
aid.” 

Audiences  in  Boston  are  accustomed  to  strange 
peoples  and  unusual  plans,  but  no  one  who  was 


Ramabai  on  her  first  visit  to  America  in  1886. 


RAMABAI’S  VISION 


21 


present  that  day  can  ever  forget  the  slight  figure 
of  the  little  widow  in  her  white  garb  and  with  the 
x close  shaven  head  indicative  of  her  despised  estate, 
Ja*  as  she  gave  her  burning  plea  for  justice  for  the 
■f  r c \ » child-widow  of  India,  that  little  one  who,  betrothed 
5 in  infancy,  and  before  the  final  ceremony  was  per- 

formed was  condemned  to  the  ignominy  of  life 
long  widowhood  because  of  the  death  of  the  boy 
or  man  she  had  never  seen,  betrothal  being  con- 
sidered binding  the  girl  in  the  case.  Such  a condi- 
tion appeared  in  no  country  on  earth  save  in  Hin- 
dustan and,  outside  of  Christian  help,  there  was  no 
remedy. 

The  touching  appeal  found  its  way  to  the  hearts 
of  many  who  pledged  themselves  for  ten  years  sup- 
port of  Ramabai’s  enterprise;  and  so,  with  her 
dream  fulfilled,  the  Pundita  started  back,  no  longer 
oppressed  with  the  knowledge  of  tragic  conditions 
without  any  prospect  for  alleviation  in  sight.  Her 
reception  in  India  was  more  cordial  than  she  dared 
to  hope.  It  was  understood  that  the  new  School 
was  to  be  non-sectarian,  which  the  Hindus  took 
to  mean  non-Christian.  This  view  made  difficulties 
of  which  we  will  speak  later. 

In  March,  1889,  the  Sharada  Sadan  (the  Home 
of  Wisdom)  was  opened  in  Bombay.  Ramabai 
had  returned  from  her  native  land  after  nearly 
seven  years’  absence,  no  longer  a poor,  friendless, 
homeless  widow,  but  a leader  supported  by  hun- 
dreds— no,  by  thousands — of  sympathetic  hearts  in 


22 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


America  and  England  as  she  began  her  great  work 
for  the  high-caste  girls  and  widows  in  that  section 
of  India.  At  the  dedication  of  the  school  a high- 
caste  Hindu  lady  had  been  induced  to  take  the 
chair.  A newspaper  of  Bombay  states  that  this 
was  the  first  time  that  an  Indian  lady  had  ever  pre- 
sided on  such  an  important  occasion.  Pandita 
Ramabai  gave  an  account  of  her  travels  and  her 
plans  for  the  benefit  of  her  fellow  countrywomen, 
and  stated  the  principles  on  which  she  should  con- 
duct her  school,  following  with  an  earnest  appeal 
to  her  countrymen  for  their  sympathy  and  support. 
The  Sadan  was  opened  that  very  afternoon,  with 
one  student,  a child  widow,  who  had  suffered  much 
since  her  betrothed  husband  had  died,  so  that  she 
had  been  considering  suicide.  Another  came  soon, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  twenty-two  stu- 
dents were  under  Ramabai’s  influence.  “ Already,” 
Pandita  Ramabai  writes,  “ I can  see  a change  in 
the  impish  natures  of  my  girls.  They  seem  to  feel 
their  responsibility.  We  have  happy  times  in  the 
evenings  when  all  the  girls  come  into  my  room  and 
we  sing  together  as  best  we  can.  We  have  no  love 
songs  to  sing,  no  comic  bits  to  say;  but  we  sing 
hymns  and  feel  quite  contented.  You  see,  they  do 
not  allow  women  to  sing:  they  think  it  is  a bad 
thing  in  a housewife.  But  we  are  getting  unruly 
in  this  school  of  ours.  We  are  going  to  turn  the 
tide,  and  make  it  a good  and  honorable  taste.” 

An  Advisory  Board  was  formed  in  India,  carry- 


RAMABAI’S  VISION 


23 


ing  such  names  as  Professor  Ramakrishna  Bhan- 
darkar,  Mr.  Justice  Telang,  and  others.  In  the 
early  days  Ramabai  had  full  opportunity  to  re- 
port to  us  the  life  stories  of  her  pupils.  The 
pathetic  stories  that  follow  speak  for  themselves : — 
“ A child  widow  of  thirteen  was  brought  to  the 
school  by  her  father.  She  was  betrothed  when  just 
emerging  from  babyhood,  and  taken  to  live  with 
her  mother-in-law.  She  never  knew  a child’s  hap- 
piness, and,  when  her  husband  died,  the  treatment 
she  received  became  cruel  in  the  extreme.  Con- 
stantly taunted  with  having  killed  her  husband  by 
some  sin  committed  in  a former  existence,  starved, 
beaten,  her  body  often  balanced  through  a ring 
suspended  from  the  ceiling,  she  became  prematurely 
old.  When  her  father  could  bear  the  sight  no 
longer,  and  took  her  to  Ramabai,  the  light  had  gone 
out  of  her  large  dark  eyes,  her  head  and  shoulders 
were  bowed  as  under  a great  burden.  Ramabai’s 
heart  ached  for  the  poor  child,  and  she  took  her  in. 
They  played  with  her,  sang  to  her  little  songs,  tried 
to  make  her  forget  her  misery,  and  succeeded. 
Soon  strength  returned  to  her  limbs,  the  light  to 
her  eyes,  and  her  whole  expression  changed  as  she 
felt  the  joy  of  being  a free  and  happy  child.  She 
proves  to  be  an  intelligent  and  diligent  pupil.” 

“ The  story  of  Gangabai  is  equally  sad.  She 
was  a widow  at  fifteen,  an  ignorant  child  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write.  She  was  defrauded  by  her 
brother-in-law  of  all  her  jewels  and  the  movable 


24 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


property  of  her  husband,  to  which  she  was  entitled 
by  the  laws  of  that  Presidency.  Her  fine  linen  was 
replaced  by  the  coarse  garment  which  was  to  be 
henceforth  the  badge  of  shame.  Her  head  was 
shaven,  and  every  possible  indignity  was  heaped 
upon  her.  She  was  forced  to  beg  for  work  and 
food,  or  starve.  Work  she  could  not  get.  Filth 
instead  of  food  was  thrown  into  her  little  basket. 
Mocking,  taunting  words  were  the  only  answers 
to  her  piteous  appeals.  Three  times  she  resolved 
to  put  an  end  to  her  miserable  existence,  but  the 
fear  of  another  incarnation  into  womanhood  re- 
strained her.  She  heard  of  Ramabai’s  school  and 
came  to  it,  notwithstanding  the  curses  of  her  peo- 
ple, who  threatened  her  with  excommunication, 
loss  of  caste  and  religion,  and  with  all  the  plagues 
they  could  invoke.  She  came  and  was  happy, 
praying  night  and  morning  that,  when  born  again, 
it  might  be  among  the  birds,  and  not  a woman.” 

In  1891  the  institution  was  removed  to  Poona, 
where  a fine  building  was  purchased  for  its  use, 
costing  $15,000.  It  was  a veritable  haven  of  rest 
for  the  despised  child-widows,  a door  of  oppor- 
tunity for  an  honorable  and  happy  life.  At  the 
dedication  of  this  new  building  Ramabai  had  the 
joy  of  having  with  her  Mrs.  Andrews,  who  was 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  As- 
sociation, and  was  a mother  beloved  to  this  her 
Indian  daughter  in  her  unceasing  care  and  efforts 
for  the  successful  prosecution  of  her  enterprise. 


The  child-widow  described  with  the  brass  water  Tara,  a child-widow  eleven  years  old.  She  was 
pots.  branded  with  hot  irons. 


RAMABAI’S  VISION  25 

At  the  beginning  of  her  school  Ramabai’s  idea 
was  to  have  it  absolutely  non-sectarian,  to  allow 
freedom  for  all  faiths  and  caste  observances.  This 
was,  and  still  is,  the  policy  of  the  school;  but 
Ramabai’s  own  Christian  life  had  so  grown  from 
year  to  year  in  depth  and  sweetness,  and  was  such 
an  example  before  the  eyes  of  her  girls,  that  many 
of  them  became  Christians.  This  caused  a loss  of 
Sympathy  with  the  Hindu  members  of  our  Ad- 
visory Board,  and  it  was  feared  by  some  members 
of  the  Association  here  that  she  was  departing 
from  the  policy  which  was  understood  from  the 
beginning,  of  remaining  neutral,  and  exerting  no 
compulsion  on  the  Hindu  women  to  leave  their 
ancestral  faith.  (Ramabai  stated,  and  we  believe 
her  to  have  kept  the  vow,  that  she  would  not  in- 
terfere with  the  religious  preferences  of  her  pupils ; 
but  such  a life  as  hers,  so  consecrated  in  its  Chris- 
tian service,  has  not  failed  to  attract,  so  that  the 
very  large  majority  of  those  under  her  care  have 
become  earnest  Christians.)  In  1892  such  opposi- 
tion arose  because  of  these  events  that  one  of  the 
daily  papers  of  the  city  stated,  “ The  Sharada 
Sadan  lias  received  its  death  blow,”  and  many  of 
her  pupils  were  removed  from  her  school  for  fear 
of  their  becoming  Christians.  Anonymous  letters 
threatened  Ramabai’s  life;  papers  became  abusive, 
and  even  indecent;  the  Advisory  Board  in  India 
resigned,  and  circulars  were  sent  to  parents  and 
guardians  advising  the  withdrawal  of  the  widows. 


26 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


But  Ramabai’s  policy  was  not  changed.  She  re- 
fused to  close  her  door  when  holding  her  family 
prayers  with  her  daughter  at  five  o’clock  in  the 
morning.  From  that  time  on  she  has  been  un- 
hampered in  her  absolute  freedom  of  worship. 
During  a visit  to  Mukti  in  1906  I found  some  in 
the  Home  still  keeping  their  caste  rules  as  orthodox 
Hindus;  but  the  large  majority,  having  received 
from  this  institution  the  freedom  which  Chris- 
tianity allows  in  educational  and  social  matters, 
have  desired  to  accept  this  liberty  in  things  re- 
ligious. 

The  need  for  such  an  institution  had  been  set 
before  the  public  by  Ramabai  in  her  book,  The 
High-Caste  Hindu  Widow,  to  which  a very  warm 
reception  was  given,  and  the  London  Atheneum 
reviewing  it  stated : “ The  new  institution  has, 
we  understand,  received  the  support  of  two  of 
the  most  distinguished  scholars  of  India,  Ram- 
krishna  Bhandarkar  and  Kasenath  Telang.  After 
all  the  most  telling  argument  for  the  scheme  is  the 
story  of  Ramabai’s  life,  spent  as  it  has  been  in 
the  face  of  severe  trials.  We  are  glad  to  note 
that  at  the  recent  Oriental  Congress  at  Christiania 
the  Pundita’s  name  was  selected  by  Professor 
Max  Muller  in  his  published  address  to  place  with 
those  of  Ram  Mohum  Roy,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
and  Nilakan  Tagore  as  representatives  of  modern 
Indian  progress.” 

The  two  whose  names  are  thus  so  highly  hon- 


RAMABAI’S  VISION 


27 


ored,  Dr.  Bhandarkar  and  Justice  Telang  were 
both  kind  enough  to  allow  their  names  to  be  on 
the  Advisory  Board  for  the  Sharada  Sadan  dur- 
ing its  first  three  years  of  existence,  and  until  a 
number  of  conversions  to  Christianity  occurred 
when  they  withdrew  their  names. 


II 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 

IN  order  that  we  may  understand  something 
of  the  contrast  between  Ramabai’s  aims  for 
her  sisters  and  the  attitude  of  Hinduism  to- 
wards them,  we  should  note  the  limitations  placed 
upon  womanhood  by  the  laws  of  Manu,  and  quoted 
by  the  Pundita  in  her  book — The  High  Caste 
Hindu  Woman — (now  unhappily  out  of  print  but 
available  in  missionary  libraries),  and  in  judging 
between  her  statements  and  those  of  certain  people 
who  attempt  to  gloss  over  the  truth  of  this  mat- 
ter, let  us  recall  the  fact  that  she  was,  by  the  as- 
sembled pundits  of  Calcutta,  entitled  Sarasvati,  due 
to  her  knowledge  of  the  sacred  books  of  their  faith, 
therefore  she  speaks  with  authority  unquestionable. 
While  recognizing  frankly  that  caste  originated  in 
the  idea  of  the  economic  division  of  labor,  she 
states — P.  35  “ that  when  caste  became  an  article 
of  the  Hindu  faith  it  assumed  the  formidable  pro- 
portions which  now  prevail  everywhere  in  India.” 
“ The  V edas  are  believed  by  the  devout  Hindu  to 
be  the  eternal  self-existing  Word  of  God  revealed 
by  Him  to  different  sages,  and  besides  the  Vedas 
there  were  more  than  twenty-five  books  of  sacred 


28 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


29 


law  on  which  are  based  the  principal  customs  and 
religious  institutions  of  the  Hindus.  Among  these 
the  Code  of  Manu  ranks  highest  and  is  believed  to 
be  very  sacred,  second  to  nothing  but  the  Vedas 
themselves.” 

“ Although  Manu  and  the  other  law  givers  dif- 
fer greatly  on  many  points,  they  all  agree  on  things 
concerning  women.  According  to  this  sacred  law 
a woman’s  life  is  divided  into  three  parts,  viz.:  1, 
Childhood,  2,  Young  or  married  life,  and  3,  Wid- 
owhood or  old  age. 

“ Hear  now  the  duties  of  women. 

“ By  a girl,  by  a young  woman  or  even  by  an 
aged  one,  nothing  must  be  done  independently  even 
in  her  own  house. 

^ “In  childhood  a female  must  be  subject  to  her 
father,  in  youth  to  her  husband,  and  when  her  lord 
is  dead,  to  her  sons ; a woman  must  never  be  hide- 
s' pendent. 

S “ Though  destitute  of  virtue,  or  seeking  pleasure 
elsewhere  or  devoid  of  good  qualities,  yet  a husband 
must  be  constantly  worshipped  as  a god  by  a faith- 
's ful  wife.”  Manu  V 147-156. 

“ A barren  wife  may  be  superseded  in  the  eighth 
year,  she  whose  children  all  die  in  the  tenth,  she 
who  bears  only  daughters  in  the  eleventh,  but  she 
who  is  quarrelsome  without  delay.” — Manu  IX  78. 

Ramabai  comments  on  the  above : 

“ But  no  such  provision  is  made  for  the  woman ; 
on  the  contrary  she  must  remain  with  and  revere 


30 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


her  husband  as  a god  even  though  he  be  destitute 
of  virtue  and  seek  pleasure  elsewhere,  or  be  de- 
void of  good  qualities,  addicted  to  evil  passion, 
fond  of  spirituous  liquors,  or  diseased  and  what 
not! 

“ Our  Aryan  Hindus  did  and  still  do  honor 
women  to  a certain  extent.  Although  the  woman 
is  looked  upon  as  an  inferior  being,  the  mother  is 
nevertheless  the  chief  person  and  worthy  to  re- 
ceive all  honor  from  the  son.  The  mother  is  the 
queen  of  the  son’s  household;  she  wields  great 
power  there  and  is  generally  obeyed  as  the  head 
of  the  family  by  her  sons  and  daughters-in-law. 
But  there  is  a reverse  side  to  the  shield  which 
should  not  be  left  unobserved.  This  is  best 
studied  in  the  Laws  of  Manu,  as  all  Hindus  with 
a few  exceptions  believe  implicitly  what  that  law- 
giver says  about  women: — in  Chap.  IX  18. 

“ It  is  the  nature  of  women  to  seduce  men  in 
this  world ; for  that  reason  the  wise  are  never  un- 
guarded in  the  company  of  females. 

“ For  women  are  able  to  lead  astray  in  this 
world  not  only  a fool,  but  even  a learned  man. 

“ For  women  no  sacramental  rite  is  performed 
with  the  sacred  texts,  thus  the  law  is  settled. 
Women  who  are  destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Vedic  texts  are  as  impure  as  falsehood  itself.” 

“ Those  who  diligently  and  impartially  read  the 
Sanscrit  literature  in  the  original  cannot  fail  to 
recognize  the  Lawgiver  and  as  one  of  those  who 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


31 


have  done  their  best  to  make  woman  a hateful  be- 
ing in  the  world’s  eye.  To  employ  her  in  house- 
keeping and  kindred  occupation  is  thought  to  be 
the  only  means  of  keeping  her  out  of  mischief,  the 
blessed  enjoyment  of  literary  culture  being  denied 
her.  She  is  forbidden  to  read  the  sacred  scrip- 
tures, she  has  no  right  to  pronounce  a single  syl- 
lable of  them.  To  appease  her  uncultivated  low 
kind  of  desire  by  giving  her  ornament  to  adorn 
her  person  and  by  giving  her  dainty  food,  together 
with  an  occasional  bow  which  costs  nothing,  are 
the  highest  honors  to  which  a Hindu  woman  is 
entitled.  She,  the  loving  mother,  the  devoted  wife, 
the  tender  sister  and  affectionate  daughter  is 
never  fit  for  independence  and  is  as  impure  as 
falsehood  itself.” 

“ I can  say  truthfully  I have  never  read  any 
sacred  book  in  Sanscrit  literature  without  meeting 
this  hateful  kind  of  sentiment  about  women.  True, 
they  contain  here  and  there  a kind  word  about 
them,  but  such  words  seem  to  me  a heartless  mock- 
ery after  having  charged  them  as  a class  with  crime 
and  evil  deeds. 

“ Profane  literature  is  by  no  means  less  severe 
"or  more  respectful  towards  women.  I quote  from 
the  ethical  teachings,  part  of  a catechism  and  also 
a few  proverbs : 

Q.  What  is  cruel  ? 

A.  The  heart  of  the  viper. 

Q.  What  is  more  cruel  than  that  ? 


32 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


A.  The  heart  of  a woman. 

O.  What  is  the  crudest  of  all? 

\ A.  The  heart  of  a sonless,  penniless  widow. 

A catechism  on  moral  subjects  written  by  a 
Hindu  gentleman  of  high  literary  reputation  says : 

Q.  What  is  the  chief  gate  to  hell? 

A.  A woman. 

O.  What  bewitches  like  wine  ? 

A.  A woman. 

Q.  Who  is  the  wisest  of  the  wise  ? 

A.  He  who  has  not  been  deceived  by  women, 
who  may  be  compared  to  maligant  fiends. 

Q.  What  are  fetters  to  men  ? 

A.  Women. 

Q.  What  is  that  which  cannot  be  trusted? 

A.  Women. 

Q.  What  poison  is  that  which  appears  like 
nectar  ? 

A.  Women. 

Some  popular  proverbs : 

Never  put  your  trust  in  women. 

Women’s  counsel  leads  to  destruction. 

Woman  is  a great  whirlpool  of  suspicion,  a 
dwelling  place  of  vices,  full  of  deceits,  a hindrance 
in  the  way  of  heaven,  a gate  of  hell.” 

“ Having  illustrated  the  popular  belief  about 
woman’s  nature,  I now  proceed  to  state  woman’s 
religion.  Virtues  such  as  truthfulness,  forbear- 
ance, purity  of  heart  and  uprightness,  are  common 
to  men  and  women,  but  religion  as  the  word  is 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


33 


commonly  understood  had  two  distinct  natures  in 
the  Hindu  law,  the  masculine  and  the  feminine. 
The  sum  and  substance  of  the  latter  may  be  given 
in  a few  words : To  look  upon  her  husband  as  a 
god,  to  hope  for  salvation  only  through  him,  to 
be  obedient  to  him  in  all  things,  never  to  covet 
independence,  never  to  do  anything  but  that  which 
is  approved  by  law  and  custom. 

“A  faithful  wife  who  desires  to  dwell  after 
death  with  her  husband  must  never  do  anything 
which  might  displease  him  who  took  her  hand 
whether  he  be  alive  or  dead.  Manu  V,  147-156. 

“ By  violating  her  duty  towards  her  husband  a 
wife  is  disgraced  in  this  world — after  death  she 
enters  the  womb  of  a jackal  and  is  tormented  by 
diseases — the  punishment  of  her  sins. 

“ She  who,  controlling  her  thoughts,  words  and 
deeds  never  slights  her  lord,  resides  after  death 
with  her  husband  in  heaven  and  is  called  a virtuous 
wife.  Manu  V,  164. 

We  now  come  to  the  worst  and  most  dreaded 


of  a high  caste  woman’s  life.  Throughout 


India  widowhood  is  regarded  as  the  punishment  of 
a horrible  crime  or  crimes  committed  in  her  former 
existence  upon  earth.  Disobedience  and  disloyalty 
to  the  husband,  or  murdering  him  in  an  earlier  ex- 
istence are  the  chief  crimes  punished  in  the  pres- 
by  widowhood. 

“ If  the  widow  be  a mother  of  sons  she  is  not 
usually  a pitiable  object,  although  she  is  certainly 


34 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


looked  upon  as  a sinner,  yet  social  abuse  and  hatred 
are  greatly  diminished  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that 
she  is  the  mother  of  superior  beings.  Next  in 
rank  to  her  stands  the  ancient  widow,  because  a 
virtuous  aged  widow  who  has  bravely  withstood 
the  thousand  temptations  and  persecutions  of  her 
lot  commands  an  involuntary  respect  from  all 
people,  to  which  may  be  added  the  honor  given  to 
old  age  quite  independent  of  the  individual.  The 
widow  mother  of  girls  is  treated  indifferently  and 
sometimes  with  genuine  hatred,  especially  so  if 
her  daughters  have  not  been  given  in  marriage  in 
/f  her  husband’s  lifetime.  But  it  is  the  child- widow 
or  a childless  young  widow  upon  whom  in  an 
especial  manner  falls  the  abuse  and  hatred  of  the 
community  as  the  greatest  criminal  upon  whom 

V Heaven’s  judgment  has  been  pronounced. 

“ In  ancient  times  the  Code  of  Manu  was  yet 
in  the  dark  future  and  when  the  priesthood  had 
not  yet  mutilated  the  original  Vedic  text,  re- 
marriage was  in  existence.  It  may  be  briefly 

✓ stated:  The  rite  of  child  marriage  made  many  a 
child  a widow  before  she  knew  what  marriage 
was,  and  her  husband  having  died  sonless  had  no 
right  to  enter  heaven  and  enjoy  immortality,  for 
the  father  obtains  immortality  if  he  sees  the  face 
of  a living  son.  Endless  are  the  worlds  of  those 
who  have  no  sons;  there  is  no  place  for  the  man 

\ who  is  destitute  of  male  offspring. 

“ In  order  that  these  departed  husbands  might 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


35 


attain  the  abode  of  the  blessed,  the  ancient  sages 
invented  the  custom  of  “ Appointment,”  by  which 
the  Hindu  Aryans  raised  up  seed  for  the  deceased 
husbands.  The  brother,  cousin  or  other  kinsman 
successively  was  appointed  to  raise  up  offspring  to 
the  dead.  The  desired  issue  having  been  obtained, 
any  intercourse  between  the  appointed  persons  was 
thenceforth  considered  illegal  and  sinful.  The 
woman  still  remained  the  widow  of  her  deceased 
husband  and  the  children  were  considered  his 
heirs.  Later  on  the  custom  of  Appointment  was 
gradually  discouraged  in  spite  of  the  Vedic  text  al- 
ready quoted — “ There  is  no  place  for  the  man 
who  is  destitute  of  male  offspring.” 

The  duties  of  a widow  are  thus  described  by 
Manu : 

“ At  her  pleasure  let  her  emaciate  her  body  by 
living  on  pure  flowers,  roots  and  fruits;  but  she 
must  never  mention  the  name  of  another  man  after 
her  husband  dies.” 

“ Until  death  let  her  be  patient  of  hardships, 
self  controlled,  chaste,  and  strive  to  fulfill  that  most 
excellent  duty  for  wives  who  have  one  husband 
only.”  Manu  V,  157. 

“ Nor  is  a second  husband  anywhere  prescribed 
r virtuous  women.”  Manu  V,  162. 


The  self-immolation  of  widows  on  the  deceased 
husband’s  pyre  was  evidently  a custom  invented  by 
the  priesthood  after  the  Code  of  Manu  was  com- 
piled. The  law  taught  in  the  schools  of  Apastamba, 


/ 


36 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


Asvalayana  and  others  older  than  Manu  do  not 
mention  it,  neither  does  the  code  of  Manu.  The 
code  of  Vishnu,  which  is  comparatively  recent, 
says  that  a woman  “after  the  death  of  her  hus-. 
band  should  either  lead  a virtuous  life  or  ascend 
the  funeral  pyre  of  her  husband.” 

The  Casi  Candam  says  “If  matrons  who  have 
put  off  glittering  ornaments  of  gold  (otherwise 
widows)  still  wear  their  hair  in  unshortened  locks, 
the  ministers  of  the  fiery  eyed  Yama  shall  bind 
with  cords  the  husband  of  her  desire.” 

Ramabai  continues : — 

“ It  is  very  difficult  to  ascertain  the  motives  of 
those  who  invented  the  terrible  custom  of  the  so- 
called  Suttee,  which  was  regarded  as  a sublimely 
meritorious  act.  As  Manu,  the  greatest  authority 
next  to  the  Vedas,  did  not  sanction  this  sacrifice, 
the  priests  saw  the  necessity  of  producing  some  text 
which  would  overcome  the  natural  fears  of  the 
widow  as  well  as  silence  the  critic  who  should  re- 
fuse to  allow  such  a horrid  rite  without  strong 
authority.  So  the  priests  said  there  was  a text  in 
the  Rig-veda  which,  according  to  their  own  render- 
ing, reads  thus : — 

“ ‘Om ! let  these  women,  not  to  be  widowed,  good 
wives,  adorned  with  collyrium,  holding  clarified 
butter,  consign  themselves  to  the  fire!  Immortal, 
not  childless,  not  husbandless,  well  adorned  with 
gems,  let  them  pass  into  the  fire  whose  original  ele- 
ment is  water.’ 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


37 


“ Here  was  an  authority  greater  than  that  of 
Manu  or  any  other  law  giver.  The  priests  and 
their  allies  pictured  heaven  in  the  most  beautiful 
colors  and  described  various  enjoyments  so  vividly 
that  the  poor  widow  became  madly  impatient  to  get 
to  the  blessed  place  in  company  with  her  departed 
...  "husband.  Not  only  was  the  woman  assured  of  her 
getting  into  heaven  by  this  sublime  act,  but  also 
that  by  this  great  sacrifice  she  would  secure  salva- 
tion to  herself  and  her  husband  and  to  their  fami- 
lies to  the  seventh  generation.  Be  they  ever  so 
sinful,  they  would  surely  attain  the  highest  bliss  in 
heaven.  Who  would  not  sacrifice  herself  if  she 
were  sure  of  such  a result  to  herself  and  to  her 
loved  ones  ? Besides  this,  she  was  conscious  of  the 
miseries  and  degradation  to  which  she  would  be 
subjected  now  that  she  had  survived  her  husband. 
The  momentary  agony  of  suffcation  in  the  flames 
was  nothing  compared  to  her  lot  as  a widow.  She 
gladly  consented  and  voluntarily  offered  herself  to 
'•please  the  gods  and  men.  The  rite  of  Suttee  is 
thus  described  by  Sir  Edwin  Arnold : — 

“ ‘ The  widow  bathed,  put  on  new  and  bright 
garments,  and  holding  Kusha  grass  in  her  left  hand 
sipped  water  from  her  right  palm,  scattered  some 
Tilla  grains  and  then,  looking  eastward  quietly  said 
“ Om ! on  this  day  I,  such  and  such  a one,  of  such 
a family,  die  in  the  fire,  that  I may  meet  Arundhati, 
and  reside  in  Svarga ; that  the  years  of  my  sojourn 
there  may  be  as  many  as  the  hairs  upon  my  hus- 


38 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


band,  many  scores  multiplied;  that  I may  enjoy 
with  him  the  facilities  of  heaven,  and  bless  my  ma- 
ternal and  paternal  ancestors,  and  those  of  my 
lord’s  line ; that  praised  by  Apsarasas,  I may  go  far 
through  the  fourteen  regions  of  Indra ; that  pardon 
may  be  given  to  my  lord’s  sins  whether  he  have 
ever  killed  a Brahman,  broken  the  laws  of  gratitude 
and  truth,  or  slain  his  friend.  Now  I do  ascend 
this  funeral  pyre  of  my  husband,  and  I call  upon 
you,  guardians  of  the  eight  regions  of  the  world, 
of  sun,  moon,  air,  of  the  fire,  the  ether,  the  earth, 
and  the  water,  and  my  own  soul.  Yama,  King  of 
death,  and  you,  Day,  Night  and  Twilight,  witness 
that  I die  for  my  beloved,  by  his  side  upon  his 
funeral  pyre.”  Is  it  wonderful  that  the  passage  of 
the  Sati  to  her  couch  of  flame  was  like  a public 
festival,  that  the  sick  and  sorrowful  prayed  her  to 
touch  them  with  her  little,  fearless,  conquering 
hand,  that  criminals  were  let  loose  if  she  looked 
upon  them,  that  the  horse  which  carried  her  was 
never  used  again  for  earthly  service? 

“ The  act  was  supposed  to  be  altogether  a volun- 
tary one,  and  no  doubt  it  was  so  in  many  cases. 
Some  died  for  the  love  stronger  than  death  which 
they  cherished  for  their  husbands.  Some  died  not 
because  they  had  been  happy  in  this  world,  but  be- 
cause they  believed  with  all  the  heart  that  they 
should  be  made  happy  hereafter.  Some  to  obtain 
great  renown,  for  tombstones  and  monuments  were 
erected  to  those  who  thus  died,  and  afterwards  the 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


39 


names  were  inscribed  on  the  long  list  of  family 
gods ; others  again,  to  escape  the  thousand  tempta- 
tions, and  sins  and  miseries  which  they  knew  would 
fall  to  their  lot  as  widows.  Those  who  from  pure 
ambition  or  from  momentary  impulse,  declared 
their  intentions  thus  to  die,  very  often  shrank  from 
the  fearful  altar;  no  sooner  did  they  feel  the  heat 
of  the  flames  than  they  tried  to  leap  down  and  es- 
cape the  terrible  fate;  but  it  was  too  late.  They 
had  taken  the  solemn  oath  which  must  never  be 
broken,  priests  and  other  men  wrere  at  hand  to  force 
them  to  remount  the  pyre.  In  Bengal,  where  this 
custom  was  most  in  practice,  countless,  fearful 
tragedies  of  this  description  occurred  even  after 
British  rule  was  long  established  there.  Christian 
missionaries  petitioned  the  government  to  abolish 
this  inhuman  custom,  but  they  were  told  that  the 
social  and  religious  customs  of  the  people  consti- 
tuted no  part  of  the  business  of  the  government, 
and  that  their  rule  in  India  might  be  endangered  by 
such  interference.  The  custom  went  on  unmo- 
lected  until  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century, 
when  a man  from  among  the  Hindus,  Raja  Ram 
Mohun  Roy,  set  his  face  against  it,  and  declared 
that  it  was  not  sanctioned  by  the  Veda  as  the  priests 
claimed.  He  wrote  many  books  on  this  subject, 
showing  the  wickedness  of  the  act,  and  with  the 
noble  co-operation  of  a few  friends,  he  succeeded 
at  last  in  getting  the  government  to  abolish  it. 
Lord  William  Bentinck,  when  Governor-general  of 


40 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


India,  had  the  moral  courage  to  enact  the  famous 
law  of  1829,  prohibiting  the  Suttee  rite  within 
British  domains,  and  holding  as  criminals,  subject 
to  capital  punishment,  those  who  countenanced  it. 
But  it  was  not  until  1844  that  the  law  had  any 
effect  upon  orthodox  Hindu  minds. 

“ The  Rig-Veda,”  says  Max  Muller,  “ so  far 
from  enforcing  the  burning  of  widows,  shows 
clearly  that  the  custom  was  not  sanctioned  during 
the  earliest  period  of  Indian  history.  According  to 
the  hymns  of  the  Rig-veda,  and  the  Vedic  ceremon- 
ial contained  in  the  Grihya-sutras,  the  wife  accom- 
panies the  corpse  of  her  husband  to  the  funeral 
pyre,  but  she  is  there  addressed  with  a verse  taken 
from  the  Rig-veda,  and  ordered  to  leave  her  hus- 
band and  to  return  to  the  world  of  the  living.” 

“ ‘ Rise,  woman,’  it  is  said,  ‘ come  to  the  world 
of  life,  thou  sleepest  nigh  unto  him  whose  life  is 
gone.  Come  to  us.  Thou  hast  thus  fulfilled  the 
duties  of  a wife  to  the  husband,  who  once  took  thy 
hand  and  made  thee  a mother.”  It  was  by  falsify- 
ing the  single  syllable  that  the  unscrupulous  priests 
managed  to  change  entirely  the  meaning  of  the 
whole  verse. 

“ Throughout  India,  now  that  the  Suttee  rite, 
partly  by  the  will  of  the  people  and  partly  by  the 
law  of  the  Empire,  is  prohibited,  many  good  people 
feel  easy  in  their  minds,  thinking  the  Hindu  widow 
has  been  delivered  from  the  hand  of  her  terrible 
fate,  but  little  do  they  realize  the  true  state  of  af- 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


41 


fairs.  Throughout  India,  except  in  the  northwest- 
ern provinces,  women  are  put  to  the  severest  trial 
imaginable  after  the  husband’s  death  They  are  de- 
prived of  every  gold  and  silver  ornament,  of  the 
bright-colored  garments,  and  of  all  the  things  they 
love  to  have  about  or  on  their  persons.  Among 
the  Brahmins  of  Deccan  the  heads  of  all  widows 
must  be  shaved  regularly  every  fortnight.  What 
woman  is  there  who  does  not  love  the  wealth  of 
soft  and  glossy  hair  with  which  nature  has  so 
generously  decorated  her  head?  A Hindu  woman 
thinks  it  worse  than  death  to  lose  her  beautiful  hair. 
The  widow  must  wear  a single  coarse  garment, 
white,  red  or  brown.  She  must  eat  only  one  meal 
during  the  24  hours.  She  must  never  take  part  in 
the  family  feasts  and  jubilees  with  others.  A man 
thinks  it  unlucky  to  behold  a widow’s  face.  He  will 
postpone  his  journey  if  his  path  happens  to  be 
'y  crossed  by  a widow  at  the  time  of  his  departure. 

“ A widow  is  called  an  inauspicious  thing.  The 
name  ‘ Rand,’  by  which  she  is  generally  known,  is 
the  same  that  is  borne  by  a Nautch  girl  or  a harlot. 
The  relatives  of  the  young  widow’s  husband  are 
always  ready  to  call  her  bad  names.  There  is 
scarcely  a day  of  her  life  in  which  she  is  not  cursed 
by  these  people  as  the  cause  of  their  beloved’s  death. 
There  may  be  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but  unhappily 
they  are  not  many.  The  young  widow  is  always 
looked  upon  with  suspicion  for  fear  that  she  may 
bring  disgrace  upon  the  family.  The  purpose  of 


* 


42 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


disfiguring  her  by  shaving  her  head,  by  not  allow- 
ing her  ornaments  or  bright,  beautiful  garments  is 
to  render  her  less  attractive  to  a man’s  eye.  Not 
allowing  her  to  eat  more  than  once  a day  and  com- 
pelling her  to  abstain  from  food  altogether  on 
sacred  days  is  a part  of  the  discipline  by  which  to 
mortify  her  youthful  nature  and  desire.  Her  life, 
then,  destitute  as  it  is  of  the  least  literary  knowl- 
edge, void  of  all  hope,  empty  of  every  pleasure  and 
social  advantage,  becomes  intolerable,  a curse  to 
herself  and  to  society  at  large.” 

Ramabai  gave  in  her  book,  The  High  Caste 
1 1 Hindu  Woman,  the  numbers  of  such  unfortu- 
nates in  her  country  as  approximately  twenty-three 
million  widows,  of  whom  ten  thousand  were  under 
four  years  of  age  and  fifty-one  thousand  between 
five  and  nine  years.  This  is  a more  moderate 
estimate  than  that  given  by  later  census  figures. 

“ It  is  often  asked  why  the  number  of  widows 
is  so  very  large,  to  which  question  there  are  two 
conclusive  answers.  First,  young  girls  and  even 
infants  are  often  given  in  marriage  to  old  men, 
who  soon  dying  leave  the  young  brides  widows 
forever.  Second,  as  an  unmarried  girl  is  a dis- 
grace to  the  entire  family  the  poorest  father  will 
pay  whatever  sum  he  can  collect  to  almost  any  man 
who  will  marry  his  child.  Therefore,  in  some  parts 
of  India,  men  have  made  it  a trade  to  go  from 
town  to  town,  marry  the  young  girls  offered  to 
them  and  collect  the  fees  for  their  support.  These 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


43 


Kulin  Brahmins  may  leave  fifty  or  one  hundred 
child-widows,  who  never  saw  his  face  after  the 
marriage  rites  were  performed.  Happily  for 
India,  this  practice  is  growing  in  disfavor. 

“ We  are  told  that  there  are  no  infant  marriages. 
An  answer  to  this  statement  is  found  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  Mysore  Census  Commission- 
er’s Report,  a report  for  one  district  alone.  In 
the  first  year  of  their  existence,  seventy-four 
Hindoo  female  children  were  carried  by  their  par- 
ents through  the  forms  of  marriage.  Children  of 
both  sexes  figure  on  the  matrimonial  stage  in  their 
second  year,  although  the  girls  outnumbered  the 
boys.  In  the  third  year  the  proportion  is  still 
higher,  while  in  the  whole  period  from  one  to 

'S  yX. 

five  years,  five  hundred  and  twelve  boy  husbands 
i I , \"]S  tj  ! ■.  against  eleven  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  girl  wives  are  recorded  as  having  been  put 
through  the  travesty  of  the  sacred  rite  of  marriage. 
A still  greater  disproportion  is  presented  in  the 
next  quin-quennial  period,  which  gives  as  many 
as  180,947  child  wives  against  8,173  boy  hus- 
/''bands.”  An  editor  of  the  native  paper  commented 
on  this  report  as  follows : “ One  cannot  but  ex- 
claim ‘ Horror ! ’ at  the  sight  of  these  figures. 
Think  of  seventy-four  baby  wives,  or  rather  their 
literally  infant  wives.  W e must  be  saved  from  our- 
selves in  spite  of  ourselves.  But  who  is  to  be  our 
savior  ?” 

To  this  cry  of  one  of  the  more  enlightened  of 


0 I*5 


N 's: 


44  PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 

India’s  people  we  must  answer  that  the  first  who 
walked  the  difficult  pathway  of  protest  against  this 
entrenched  injustice  and  wrong  was  Pundita 
Ramabai ! She  continues : — 

“ We  are  told  that  the  life  of  the  child  widow 
is  not  so  hard  and  pitiless  as  represented.  That 
the  majority  have  happy  homes  and  they  yield 
cheerfully,  bravely  to  the  restrictions  their  custom 
or  religion  places  upon  them.  If  so,  why  are  the 
shaven  heads  and  the  coarse  white  garments 
badges  of  shame?  Why  are  the  bodies  emaciated 
and  disfigured  by  cruel  blows?  Why  the  sullen, 
joyless  expression  of  the  face?  Why  so  many 
suicides  and  lives  of  shame?  Listen  to  the  pitiful 
histories  of  some  of  the  inmates  of  the  Sharada 
Sadan  who  bear  the  white  marks  of  hot  iron  on 
their  heads,  white  scars  made  by  sharp  fingernails 
meeting  in  the  tender  flesh  of  the  face,  or  look 
at  the  expression  on  the  face  of  one  of  the  two 
thousand  widows  kept  in  the  temples  of  Brindaban, 
and  Ramabai’s  zeal  on  their  behalf  is  not  for 
a moment  to  be  considered  excessive. 

Hearing  of  some  presentation  of  Hinduism  made 
to  Americans  Ramabai  wrote,  “ I beg  my  western 
sisters  not  to  be  satisfied  at  looking  at  the  outside 
beauty  of  the  grand  philosophies,  and  not  to  be 
charmed  with  hearing  the  interesting  discourses 
about  educated  men,  but  to  open  the  trap  doors  of 
the  great  monuments  of  ancient  Hindoo  intellect 
and  enter  into  the  dark  cellars  where  they  will  see 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


45 


the  real  workings  of  these  philosophies.  Let  them 
come  to  India,  and  live  among  us.  Let  them  go 
to  the  sacred  places  where  countless  pilgrims 
throng  yearly.  Let  them  go  round  Jagannath 
Puri,  Benares,  Gaya,  Allahabad,  Muttra,  Bindra- 
ban,  Dwarka,  Pandliarpur,  Udipi,  Tirpatty,  and 
such  other  sacred  cities,  the  strongholds  of  Hindu- 
ism and  seats  of  sacred  learning,  where  the  Ma- 
hatmas and  Sadhus  dwell  and  where  the  ‘ sublime  ’ 
philosophies  are  daily  taught  and  devoutly  fol- 
lowed. The  thousands  of  priests,  men  learned  in 
sacred  law,  who  are  the  spiritual  rulers  and  guides 
of  our  people,  who  neglect  and  oppress  the  widows 
/ and  devour  widows’  houses.  I have  gone  to  many 
of  the  so-called  sacred  places  and  have  seen  enough 
of  these  possessors  of  superior  Hindoo  spirituality, 
who  oppress  the  widows  and  trample  the  poor,  ig- 
norant low  caste  people  under  their  feet.  They 
have  deprived  the  widows  of  their  birthright  to 
enjoy  pure  life  and  lawful  happiness.  They  send 
out  hundreds  of  emissaries  to  look  for  young 
widows  and  bring  them  by  thousands  to  the  sacred 
cities  to  rob  them  of  their  money  and  their  virtue. 
They  entice  the  poor,  ignorant  women  to  leave 
their  own  houses  to  live  in  the  Kshetras, — i e,  the 
Holy  Places, — and  then  after  robbing  them  of  their 
belongings,  tempt  them  to  yield  to  their  unholy 
desires.  They  shut  the  young,  helpless  widows 
into  their  large  Mathas  (Monasteries)  hire  them 
out  to  wicked  men,  as  long  as  they  can  get  money. 


46 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


and  when  the  poor,  miserable  slaves  are  no  longer 
pleasing,  they  turn  them  out  to  beg  their  liveli- 
hood, to  suffer  the  horrible  consequence  of  sin,  to 
carry  the  burden  of  shame  and  finally  to  die  the 
death  worse  than  that  of  a starved  street  dog!  The 
so-called  sacred  places, — those  veritable  hells  on 
earth,  have  become  the  graveyard  of  countless 
widows  and  orphans.  Thousands  upon  thousands 
of  young  widows  are  suffering  untold  misery  and 
dying  helpless  each  year  throughout  this  land,  but 
not  a philosopher  or  Mahatma  has  come  out 
boldly  to  champion  their  cause.  If  anything  has 
been  done  by  anybody  at  all,  it  has  been  done  by 
those  people  who  have  come  under  the  direct  in- 
fluence of  Christianity.  Let  my  western  sisters  be 
charmed  by  the  books  and  poems  that  they  read; 
there  are  many  hard  and  bitter  facts  which  we 
have  to  accept  and  to  feel ! ” 

It  may  be  asked  why  Ramabai  presumes  to 
speak  so  definitely  about  these  practices.  As  a 
scholar  she  might  have  been  mislead  or  from  hear- 
say she  might  have  received  misinformation,  but 
in  order  that  she  might  know  for  herself  the  truth 
of  the  matter,  she  made  a tour  through  India,  visit- 
ing the  principal  shrine  cities — her  widow’s  garb 
giving  her  access  to  many  places  which  a foreigner 
might  never  enter.  It  is  refreshing  too  to  find  that 
she  was  not  only  willing  to  tell  the  truth  about  her 
own  people,  but  that  she  knew  the  history  of  her 
own  beloved  land.  If  any  have  received  the  im- 


Brahmin  priest  at  Brindaban,  the  shrine  city  where  thousands  of  widows  reside  in  temples. 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


47 


pression  that  India  was  free  before  the  coming  of 
the  British  as  has  recently  been  stated  on  the  pub- 
lic platform  of  our  leading  cities,  let  them  read 
Ramabai’s  description  of  one  of  the  exquisite  pal- 
aces of  the  Great  Moguls,  whose  power  throttled 
India  from  the  Moslem  throne  for  over  a thou- 
sand years.  In  company  with  Mrs.  Judith  W. 
Andrews,  then  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Ramabai  Association,  she  visited 
Delhi  and  Agra.  She  wrote : — “ At  Agra  we  saw 
the  great  Khas  Mahal,  or  the  Emperor’s  private 
palace,  where  he  kept  hundreds  of  beautiful  women 
shut  up  for  life.  The  guide  showed  us  the  Rani’s 
private  rooms,  the  gardens  and  the  grand  marble 
buildings  once  occupied  by  the  kings  and  the 
queens.  He  also  showed  us  the  beautiful  pleasure 
tower  called  the  Saman  Burj,  Jasmine  Tower. 
Visitors  are  shown  all  that  is  beautiful  there,  and 
they  go  away  carrying  very  pleasant  impressions 
of  Agra.  I was  not  satisfied  by  seeing  the  out- 
side beauty  of  ‘ those  poems  in  marble,’  but  wished 
to  see  the  dungeons  where  the  unfortunate  women 
used  to  be  confined  and  hanged  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  king.  The  guide  at  first  denied  the  existence  of 
such  places,  but  finaly,  on  obtaining  the  promise  to 
get  a little  more  money  for  his  trouble  he  con- 
sented to  show  the  dungeons.  He  opened  a trap 
door  on  one  side  and  guided  us  about,  showing  us 
the  many  small  and  large  underground  rooms 
where  the  queens  who  had  incurred  the  king’s  dis- 


48 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


pleasure  used  to  be  shut  up,  tortured  and  starved, 
until  it  pleased  his  majesty  to  set  them  free.  The 
guide  then  lighted  a big  torch  and  took  us  to  the 
farthest  end  of  the  prison  into  a room  underneath 
the  Jasmine  tower.  It  was  a dark,  octagonal  room, 
with  a deep  pit  in  the  center,  and  a big  beam  placed 
in  the  wall,  right  over  the  pit.  This  beam,  beauti- 
fully carved,  served  for  hanging  the  unfortunate 
women  of  the  zanana,  who  had  by  some  unknown 
cause  fallen  under  the  king’s  displeasure,  and  had 
to  suffer  such  a cruel  death.  Their  lifeless  bodies 
were  let  down  into  the  pit,  when  the  stream  car- 
ried them  to  the  waters  of  the  Jumna,  where  the 
bodies  were  eated  by  crocodiles.  Thus  the  poor, 
miserable  wives  of  the  Mogul  emperors  suffered 
torture  and  death  in  that  dark  hell  pit,  under  that 
pleasure  gallery,  while  their  cruel  masters  and  rivals 
sang  songs,  enjoyed  life,  and  made  merry,  in  the 
beautifully  decorated  Jasmine  Tower  above.  I 
think  but  little  of  those  lovely  palaces,  but  always 
v,  remember  that  dark  room.” 

Lest  any  should  imagine  that  Ramabai  exag- 
gerated, we  will  read  what  Doctor  Bhandarkar, 
Vice  Chancellor  of  Bombay  University,  an  en- 
lightened Hindoo  who  never  professed  Christianity, 
but  who  was  one  of  the  strong  supporters  of  the 
Sharada  Sadan,  said  before  the  Indian  National 
Conference  in  its  fifth  meeting,  where  6000  men 
were  in  attendance.  He  declared,  “ The  misery  of 
our  widows  has  been  the  subject  of  frequent  re- 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


49 


mark.  I will  therefore  not  detain  you  long  by  a 
full  exposition  of  it.  I will  only  make  a general 
observation  that  that  society  which  allows  men  to 
marry  any  number  of  times  even  up  to  the  age  of 
sixty,  while  it  sternly  forbids  even  girls  of  seven 
or  eight  to  have  another  husband  after  one  is  dead ; 
which  gives  liberty  to  a man  of  fifty  or  sixty  to 
marry  a girl  of  eleven  or  twelve,  which  has  no 
word  of  condemnation  for  the  man  who  marries 
another  wife  within  fifteen  days  after  the  death  of 
the  first,  is  a society  which  sets  very  little  value 
upon  the  life  of  a female  human  being,  and  places 
woman  on  the  same  level  with  cattle,  and  is  thus 
in  an  unsound  condition,  disqualifying  it  for  a suc- 
cessful competition  with  societies  with  a more 
healthy  constitution.  Ofttimes  the  marriage  of  a 
girl  under  certain  circumstances  proves  her  death 
warrant.*  This  matter  has  within  the  last  few 
years  forced  itself  powerfully  upon  my  observa- 
tion. A young  man  of  thirty  or  thirty-five  loses 
his  first  wife.  Straightway  he  proceeds  to  marry 

* The  Professor  may  have  had  in  mind  the  case  of 
Phulmani  Das,  the  girl  of  eight  years  married  to  a man 
of  thirty-eight  who  died  on  the  very  night  of  her  mar- 
riage. The  mother  in  her  agony  over  the  loss  of  her 
child  told  a friend  of  the  incident,  and  it  was  spread 
abroad  throughout  the  community.  The  horror  of  the 
event  caused  the  enactment  of  a law  to  raise  the  age  of 
consent  to  fourteen.  Against  this,  the  priests  organized 
public  demonstrations  to  protest  against  such  an  inter- 
ference with  their  religious  customs. 


50 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


another  who  is  a girl  of  ten  or  twelve.  That  girl 
dies  by  the  time  she  reaches  the  age  of  twenty. 
Another  takes  her  place  immediately.  She  too 
dies  similarly.  Then  comes  a third  who  meets  with 
a same  fate,  and  a fourth  is  married  by  the  per- 
severing man  and  is  eventually  left  a widow  be- 
fore she  is  out  of  her  teens.  A great  many  such 
cases  have  occurred  within  the  last  few  years 
amongst  our  educated  men.  The  medical  men 
whom  I have  consulted,  say  that  the  results  are 
due  to  the  marriages  being  ill-assorted,  i.  e.,  to  the 
great  inequality  between  the  ages  of  the  girl  and 
the  strong  and  vigorous  man.  I do  not  know  how 
else  to  characterize  these  cases,  except  as  cases  of 
Jiuman  sacrifice.  Surely,  if  the  men  who  marry 
girls  successively  in  this  manner  are  educated  men, 
their  refined  sentiments  and  feelings  ought  to  make 
them  spare  poor,  innocent  girls  and  marry  a grown 
up  woman,  a widow,  if  an  unmarried  one  is  not 
to  be  had.” 

The  Honorable  Mr.  Justice  Rao  Bahadur  M. 
Ranade  testifies  also  of  his  country’s  ideals : — “ A 
Hindu  widow  may  not  remarry.  Against  the 
child-widow  the  rule  prohibiting  re-marriage  is  en- 
forced with  inexorable  rigour.  For  them  there  is 
no  relaxation,  no  pity,  no  sympathy.  But  the  old 
Hindu  widower,  who  is  shuddering  on  the  verge  of 
the  grave  may  marry  again  and  again,  as  often  as 
he  likes.  For  him  there  is  no  restriction — he  is 
under  no  obligation  to  exercise  self-restraint.” 


THUS  SAITH  THE  LAW! 


51 


Ramabai  knew  something  of  the  bitterness  of  the 
life  of  the  widow,  even  though  her  Christian  faith 
freed  her  from  most  of  its  trammels.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  even  when  she  had  become  fa- 
mous through  the  establishment  of  her  school,  when 
she  visited  in  her  step-brothers’  home  they  showed 
affection  for  her,  and  pride  in  her  career,  but  the 
wife  would  only  occasionally  condescend  to  eat 
in  the  same  room  with  the  widow.  On  such  rare 
occasions  Ramabai  was  obliged  to  serve  herself 
and  to  wash  her  own  dishes,  while  the  brother  and 
his  wife,  whenever  they  had  sat  by  her  side,  or 
touched  her  hand,  as  they  sometimes  did,  felt  it 
necessary  to  purify  themselves  from  the  contact 
by  changing  their  garments  before  they  would  ven- 
ture to  eat.  Yet  she  succeeded  in  gaining  from 
them  a promise  to  send  their  two  child-widow 
daughters  to  her  school. 


Ill 


HOME-TOUCHES 

AT  the  close  of  the  ten  year  period  for  which 
the  pledge  of  support  had  been  made 
Ramabai  again  came  to  plead  her  cause,  this 
time  not  with  uncertainty  as  to  the  possibilities  of 
success,  but  in  order  that  her  enlarged  ideals  might 
prevail  for  the  future  development  of  the  work. 
She  felt  it  necessary  also  so  to  change  the  Articles 
of  Incorporation  that  no  longer  could  they  be  in- 
terpreted so  as  to  prevent  her  from  giving  Chris- 
tian instruction  to  those  who  desired  it.  The 
strong  conviction  was  that  she  should  be  as  free 
in  the  exercise  of  her  faith  as  she  permitted  those 
to  be  who  preferred  the  Hindu  customs  and  wor- 
ship. 

A large  gathering  came  to  hear  her  address  in 
Channing  Hall,  Boston  on  March  16,  1898.  The 
Pundita  reported  the  success  of  the  enterprise  and 
acknowledged  that  she  had  incurred  one  great  debt 
— not  of  money  on  the  land  or  buildings;  of  the 
ninety-five  thousand  dollars  which  had  been  con- 
tributed during  the  decade  fifty  thousand  have 
been  given  back  to  the  Association  in  the  value 
of  the  School,  and  ten  thousand  in  the  value  of  the 


52 


HOME  TOUCHES 


53 


Farm, — but  the  truly  heavy  debt  of  gratitude  for 
the  support  and  the  love  and  faith  which  had  been 
so  generously  given.  She  had  asked  in  the  be- 
ginning for  five  thousand  a year  for  expenses ; six 
thousand  had  been  sent,  and  for  the  enlarged  work 
now  possible  she  hoped  that  twenty  thousand  a 
year  would  not  seem  too  much  to  give.  Taking  up 
the  matter  of  the  persecution  which  had  come  to 
the  Sharada  Sadan  because  of  the  conversion  of 
certain  pupils  she  continued:  “ What  shall  I say  of 
the  religious  policy  of  the  school?  When  I be- 
gan my  work,  I told  you  that  the  school  would  be 
entirely  non-sectarian.  By  this  I did  not  mean  that 
it  would  be  an  irreligious  school.  No  kind  of  re- 
ligious training  is  compulsory.  We  do  not  teach 
the  Bible  or  the  Vedas  to  the  girls;  but,  as  I told 
you  at  the  beginning,  I put  the  Bible  and  the  Vedas 
together  on  the  shelves  of  the  library,  and  let  the 
girls  read  for  themselves  if  they  wish.  We  give 
them  all  liberty  to  keep  their  castes  and  their  cus- 
toms. They  are  not  prevented  from  praying  to 
their  own  gods  or  from  wearing  those  gods  around 
their  necks  if  they  want  to,  and  some  of  the  girls 
in  my  school  do  so,  as  I used  to  do  years  ago ; but 
I am  glad  to  say  that  some  light  came  to  them,  not 
from  ourselves  but  from  God.  I was  a Christian 
woman,  I had  a home,  a daughter  for  whom  I must 
make  a home.  I let  my  girls  do  what  they  liked, 
and  I have  the  freedom  with  which  Christ  has 
made  me  free;  and  why  should  I keep  my  light 


64 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


under  a bushel?  When  I had  my  family  worship 
in  my  own  room,  not  in  the  school  hall,  some  of 
the  girls  began  to  come.  Some  of  the  Hindu 
brethren  thought  I was  going  too  far,  that  I was 
Christianizing  these  girls.  They  wanted  me  to 
shut  the  door  of  my  room  when  I was  reading 
the  Bible  and  praying.  I said : ‘ No.  I have  the 
same  freedom  to  practise  my  Christianity  which 
those  girls  have  to  practise  their  religion.  Why 
should  I shut  the  door  of  my  room,  which  I do 
not  shut  at  any  other  time  during  the  twenty-four 
hours  of  the  day?’  So  the  girls  who  want  to 
come,  come ; and,  though  we  never  preached  Chris- 
tianity, they  read  the  Bible  for  themselves.”  In 
order  to  remove  the  impression  which  was  under- 
stood in  India  to  bind  her  not  to  teach  Christianity, 
the  Ramabai  Association  was  dissolved,  and  the 
property  and  rights  were  transferred  to  a new  As- 
sociation under  the  title  of  the  American  Ramabai 
Association,  which  still  exists  as  the  official  rep- 
resentative of  Ramabai’s  work  in  this  country, 
and  which  receives  and  disburses  the  bequests  and 
gifts  which  come  from  those  who  recognize  that 
the  great  institution  which  Ramabai  established 
must  be  carried  on,  and  that  her  work  must  be  fin- 
ished by  others,  since  its  value  is  no  longer  a 
question  but  a proved  fact. 

During  this  visit  Ramabai  reported  as  the  re- 
sult of  only  ten  years  work  that  she  had  trained 
fourteen  of  the  High  Caste  Hindu  widows  as 


HOME  TOUCHES 


55 


teachers,  nine  of  whom  were  in  good  positions, 
and  two  had  already  started  schools  of  their  own. 
Eight  had  been  trained  as  nurses,  two  were  house- 
keepers and  ten  happily  married.  Of  the  350  who 
had  been  in  the  Sharada  Sadan  forty-eight  had 
become  Christians — under  the  unconscious  influ- 
ence of  Ramabai’s  daily  life. 

The  Pundita  must  have  suffered  many  hardships 
as  she  travelled  through  this  country,  from  Maine 
to  California,  presenting  her  work  and  organizing 
Circles  for  its  support.  It  requires  a strong  con- 
stitution to  endure  the  constant  strain  of  change 
of  climate  and  fatigue.  One  minor  difficulty  may 
be  related  which  made  her  achievement  quite  ex- 
traordinary to  those  who  know  India.  What  the 
Pundita  suffered  because  of  her  strict  vegetarian- 
ism will  never  he  told,  as  her  charming  courtesy 
forbade  her  from  making  her  distaste  known,  and 
she  therefore  often  went  without  sufficient  food. 
Many  times,  as  we  later  learned,  she  could  touch 
nothing  on  the  table  but  the  potatoes ! When  her 
preference  became  known  the  friends  tried  to  have 
regard  for  her  diet,  but  some  most  amusing  ex- 
periences were  hers.  A luncheon  arranged  in  her 
honor  by  a gracious  hostess  in  New  York  called  to- 
gether many  distinguished  women. 

Unfortunately  no  one  had  informed  the  lady 
of  the  house  so  it  turned  out  that  of  the  various 
courses  every  one  contained  some  kind  of  flesh, 
so  Ramabai  touched  only  the  bread  and  butter. 


56 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


Her  hostess  became  aware  of  the  situation  and 
was  much  distressed.  When  the  dessert  arrived  she 
announced  with  glee  that  here  was  something  which 
the  guest  of  the  day  could  enjoy ! Upon  Ramabai’s 
return  to  Mukti  she  was  describing  to  her  girls 
some  of  the  queer  manners  and  customs  of  the 
United  States.  Unconscious  of  the  fact  that  among 
her  listeners  was  an  American  lady,  whose  sense 
of  humor  made  her  delight  in  the  situation,  Rama- 
bai  mentioned  her  occasional  hunger  when  seated 
at  tables  loaded  writh  plenty,  and  then  told  of  that 
particular  feast  just  referred  to.  She  said  that  the 
hostess,  smiling  happily,  urged  her  to  partake  of 
the  dessert,  a delicately  browned  cake  heaped  with 
rosy  strawberries  and  covered  with  mounds  of 
whipped  cream ! Beautiful  to  look  at  and  fragrant ! 
Ramabai  was  about  to  enjoy  it  when  in  a curious 
mood  she  inquired  how  it  was  made,  and  this  is 
her  report : “ Fancy  dear  girls,  what  they  had  done ! 
Over  those  luscious  berries  they  had  put  a cake 
made  with  pig  oil ! ” The  word  used  in  India  for 
lard  does  not  convey  fully  the  horror  which  these 
dainty  vegetarians  felt  on  receiving  such  awful 
news,  but  one  can  imagine  the  shouts  of  laughter 
which  followed  as  the  students  pondered  their  own 
better  ways.  For  the  pig  in  hot  countries  is  an 
abhorrence  and  worse  than  any  other  kind  of  meat ! 

When  Ramabai  was  a guest  in  my  own  home  I 
prepared  the  best  curry  I could  for  her,  hoping  that 
as  I had  learned  the  art  in  India,  also  my  native 


HOME  TOUCHES 


57 


land,  it  might  prove  acceptable.  It  was  easy  to 
see  however  that  it  did  not  quite  meet  with  ap- 
proval. On  pressing  for  the  reason  Ramabai’s 
honesty  led  her  to  inform  me  that  I had  made 
three  mistakes — first  in  using  curry  powder  out  of 
a bottle  (though  made  by  a leading  firm)  since  the 
Brahmins  never  use  anything  but  the  fresh  spices 
and  peppers,  secondly  because  I had  used  chicken! 
— and  lastly  because  I had  used  onions,  a low  caste 
vegetable!  We  had  a good  laugh  over  all  the 
blunders,  and  the  next  day  I invited  her  into  the 
kitchen  to  do  what  she  pleased.  I watched  her  as 
she  daintily  clarified  the  butter  till  it  resembled  the 
ghee  used  in  India,  to  which  she  then  added  the 
spices  and  lastly  the  peppers.  Let  us  hope  that 
this  one  meal  at  least  was  as  she  desired  it ! 

The  second  reception  given  to  the  brave  pioneer 
was  even  more  enthusiastic  than  on  the  occasion 
of  her  first  visit.  Ample  support  being  assured 
by  the  American  Ramabai  Association,  she  re- 
turned to  India,  and  with  the  aid  of  her  daughter 
Manoramabai  extended  her  activities  marvelously. 
At  the  time  of  a terrible  epidemic  of  bubonic  plague 
during  which  Poona  was  sorely  afflicted,  she  be- 
came convinced  that  quarters  outside  of  the  city 
were  better  adapted  for  the  growing  Institution, 
and  with  the  assent  of  the  Association  she  moved 
her  work  to  a place  near  the  village  of  Kedgaon, 
where  she  secured  a large  amount  of  land  and 
erected  a number  of  buildings,  calling  the  whole 


58 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


establishment  Mukti,  or  “ Salvation,”  and  where, 
during  the  famine,  she  received  large  numbers  of 
widows  and  orphans,  until  her  family  numbered 
from  1500  to  2000  souls.  Naturally,  the  form  of 
her  work  changed,  as  in  that  time  of  need  she 
abandoned  the  policy  of  accepting  only  high-caste 
girls.  Much  of  the  funds  for  the  purchase  of  this 
land  was  sent  to  her  from  friends  direct,  and  is 
not  under  the  control  of  this  Association.  The 
character  of  her  work  necessarily  changed.  These 
famine-striken,  neglected  children  and  older  widows 
were  not  ready  for  the  high-school  work  which 
the  pupils  of  the  Sharada  Sadan  were  taking,  and 
it  was  therefore  necessary  to  begin  industrial  work. 
From  that  time  on  this  has  been  a noted  feature 
of  the  great  establishment.  Not  only  is  the  cook- 
ing for  this  large  number  done  by  the  girls,  but 
the  weaving  of  their  clothing  is  carried  on  in  a 
number  of  low  buildings,  where  the  cotton  is 
carded,  spun,  and  dyed,  and  then  woven  into  the 
neat  saris  (dresses)  for  the  large  establishment. 
One  set  of  girls  weave  in  the  mornings,  going  to 
school  in  the  afternoons,  while  others,  enjoying  the 
morning  session,  keep  the  looms  busy  in  the  after- 
noons. I found  it  a charming  sight  to  see  the 
bright-colored  cottons  flashing  in  the  Chakkas 
looms,  and  the  swift  brown  hands  sending  the 
shuttle  to  and  fro.  Improved  American  churns 
have  been  imported  for  the  making  of  butter,  and 


Two  child-widows  of  India.  The  one  at  the  left  has  Graduates  of  the  Sharada  Sadan. 

been  two  months  in  the  Sharada  Sadan,  the  other 
four  years. 


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59 


Ramabai  has  a large  farm  on  which  vegetables 
and  fruit  are  raised  for  the  establishment.  Carpet- 
making is  being  introduced  also. 

In  all  this  work  Ramabai  was  fortunate  in  hav- 
ing the  full  sympathy  and  cooperation  of  her 
gifted  daughter,  Manoramabai,  who  after  a course 
in  the  Chesboro  Seminary  returned  to  India  and 
later  completed  her  college  course  in  Bombay  Uni- 
versity. The  tie  between  mother  and  daughter 
became  one  of  those  rare  friendships  that  charm 
the  onlooker.  Mano  existed  only  for  the  joy  of 
helping  her  mother  and  to  fulfill  her  plans.  Rama- 
bai in  turn  so  trusted  Mano  that  she  gave  to  her 
the  administration  of  the  Sharada  Sadan,  and  in- 
deed, the  oversight  of  the  school  work,  while  she 
devoted  her  attention  to  the  general  administration, 
for  the  various  departments  coming  out  of  the 
famine  conditions  required  generalship  to  keep  all 
at  work  and  all  happy  and  healthy.  In  later  years 
the  routine  of  necessity  became  very  exact.  We 
are  fortunate  to  have  Ramabai ’s  own  description 
of  her  day’s  work : “ The  big  church  bell  rang  at 
4 a.  m.,  to  rouse  everybody  from  sleep.  I was  up. 
At  4 :30  I walked  out  of  my  room  to  the  church, 
where  I saw  the  pupil  teachers  and  some  of  the 
new  girls  assembled  for  prayer  and  Bible  study. 
They  sang  a hymn  after  which  I read  the  Bible  les- 
son and  explained.  Prayers  were  offered,  and  the 
meeting  was  closed  with  the  Lord’s  Prayer.  It  is 


60 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


6:15  a.m.  The  pupil  teachers  have  gone  to  take 
their  breakfast,  and  to  prepare  for  school.  All  of 
us  workers,  too,  have  to  take  our  breakfast  at  this 
time,  The  new  girls  rose  at  5 a.m. : their  matrons 
helped  them  to  put  their  bedding  in  good  order  and 
to  sweep  the  sleeping  rooms.  The  girls  who  do  the 
washing  for  the  little  girls  and  for  the  invalids 
have  tied  up  their  bundles  of  clothes,  taken  them 
up,  and  placed  them  on  their  heads.  Water  is 
drawn  from  the  well  in  large  leather  buckets.  Four 
pair  of  bullocks  and  three  men  are  helping  to  draw 
it.  The  water  is  poured  into  two  tanks,  whence 
it  flows  into  the  garden  to  water  the  fruit,  plants, 
and  vegetables.  Here  in  these  tanks  all  the  wash- 
ing is  done  in  the  morning,  and  the  clothes  are 
dried  in  the  sun.  Some  of  the  girls  gather  up  the 
clothes,  and,  after  taking  their  bath  and  washing 
their  saris,  the  washerwomen  return  home  at  about 
eleven  o’clock,  take  their  mid-day  meal,  and  go  to 
school. 

“ The  pupil  teachers,  after  breakfast,  go  to 
school.  At  8 a.m.,  some  classes  of  the  Rescue 
Home  girls  come  to  the  school-room  to  learn  their 
lessons  till  10  a.m.,  and  go  to  bathe.  The  large 
girls  of  the  Mukti  Home  have  gone  to  have  their 
bath  while  the  little  girls  were  having  their  break- 
fast. Now  it  is  their  turn  to  have  their  breakfast 
while  the  smaller  girls  are  having  their  bath.  One 
of  the  older  girls,  who  is  a teacher  now,  is  going 


One  of  the  nine  great  wells  at  Mukti.  The  water  supply  has  never  failed.  Bullocks  pull  up  the  water 

in  the  skin  buckets. 


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61 


around  the  grounds  watching  the  sanitary  condi- 
tions, directing  the  sweepers  how  to  keep  the  place 
clean.  She  also  goes  around  the  dormitories  and 
sees  that  the  bedding,  etc.,  of  the  girls  in  each  class 
is  kept  in  good  order.  It  is  her  duty  to  report  to  me 
if  the  general  cleanliness  of  the  establishment  is 
neglected. 

“ I walked  around  the  place,  saw  the  workmen 
engaged  in  the  work  at  the  proper  places,  directed 
the  foreman  to  make  certain  improvements  in  some 
places,  to  dig  the  foundation  of  a new  room  to 
be  built  near  the  lamp  room,  directed  the  gardener 
to  plant  trees  in  one  part  of  the  ground  and  to 
take  out  some  trees,  which  came  too  near  the  build- 
ing, and  plant  them  in  another  place.  Went  to  in- 
spect the  hospital  grounds.  At  10  a.m.  the  pupil 
teachers  have  finished  their  morning  lessons.  They 
rise  from  their  desks  to  make  room  for  the  other 
girls,  there  not  being  room  for  all  at  one  time,  and 
a host  of  new  girls  of  all  sizes  are  seen  going  to 
the  school-room.  In  ten  minutes  they  are  seated 
in  their  proper  places,  slates  and  pencils  have  been 
distributed,  the  blackboards  are  before  them,  and 
the  teachers  have  begun  a fresh  lesson.  The  kinder- 
garten department  has  begun  its  interesting  work. 
The  head  girl  who  directs  the  pupil  teachers  in 
this  department  is  in  a bad  temper,  and  has  left 
her  work  abruptly,  so  it  falls  to  my  share  to  go  and 
teach  in  the  kindergarten  to-day.  The  children 


62 


pandita'ramabai  sarasvati’ 


are  learning  the  Third  Gift.  The  bell  is  ringing. 
The  morning  session  of  the  school  lias  come  to  a 
close,  and  the  girls  are  going  out  of  the  school- 
rooms to  have  their  mid-day  meal.  The  new  girls 
are  gathering  again  in  their  respective  classes  to 
have  another  two  hours’  instruction.  The  pupil 
teachers  have  gone  to  their  study  in  the  school- 
room. Some  classes  from  among  the  new  girls 
have  gone  to  grind  grain  to  make  flour  for  bread. 
About  sixty  hand-mills,  in  two  large  grinding- 
rooms,  are  being  worked  at. 

“ At  3 p.  m.  the  bell  rings  for  all  the  girls  to  come 
together  in  church,  to  attend  the  singing  class. 
They  come  from  all  sides  -with  their  matrons.  The 
little  ones  and  middle-sized  girls  are  most  anxious 
to  learn  singing.  At  4 p.m.  the  girls  go  out  of  the 
singing  class  to  their  rooms,  take  their  platter, 
cups,  etc.,  go  to  the  tank  to  wash  their  hands  and 
take  water  in  their  drinking  vessels,  and  go  to  the 
dining-rooms,  where  they  are  led  by  the  matrons 
in  the  proper  order.  When  the  chief  matron  rings 
a small  bell  to  call  order  and  to  say  grace,  all  girls 
stand,  fold  their  hands,  bend  their  heads  reverently, 
and  ask  God’s  blessing.  Supper  is  over  at  6 p.m., 
and  they  have  a little  time  for  play.  Some  are 
walking  about,  some  sitting  in  the  open  ground, 
some  dancing  and  singing  and  enjoying  themselves. 
Some  chat  in  the  garden,  and  inspect  flowers  and 
leaves.  They  are  beginning  to  love  flowers.  A 


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63 


year  ago  they  used  to  tear  up  the  leaves  of  the 
flower  plants  and  break  the  branches  of  the  grow- 
ing trees. 

“ Night  has  come.  The  bell  for  retiring  is  ring- 
ing. The  girls  hurry  off  from  the  garden  to  their 
respective  dormitories.  Each  one  spreads  her  bed- 
ding of  a little  carpet,  a sheet,  and  two  blankets. 
They  are  preparing  to  lie  down  and  go  off  to  sleep. 
But  before  going  to  bed  they  kneel  down,  either  by 
themselves  or  around  their  matrons,  and  pray 
aloud.  These  new  girls,  babes  in  Christ,  are  just 
beginning  to  understand  what  praying  means. 
Their  expressions  are  very  funny  at  times.  They 
mean  well.  Some  wee  babes  who  are  beginning 
to  lisp  are  repeating  just  one  verse  from  the 
twenty-third  Psalm  over  and  over  again,  ‘ The 
Lord  is  my  Shepherd.  I shall  NOT  W-A-A-ANT.’ 
Great  stress  is  laid  on  the  last  two  words.  The 
poor  little  things  have  known  too  well  what  want 
means.  At  eight  the  bell  rings  again,  when  all  the 
girls  are  in  bed.” 

The  institution  was  divided  into  three  parts, — 
Mukti,  or  the  general  Orphanage  or  School  for  all 
who  may  come ; Kripa  Sadan,  or  the  Home  of  Ref- 
uge, for  those  whose  lives  have  been  unsheltered  be- 
fore they  came  to  her ; and  the  Sharada  Sadan,  or 
the  high-school  department,  which  was  kept  quite 
separate  from  the  others  and  which  is  the  institu- 
tion which  the  American  Association  supports.  In 


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PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


this  to-day  there  are  two  hundred  and  four  stu- 
dents, and  the  teachers  are  wholly  those  trained  in 
the  institution.  From  these  institutions  have  gone 
out  teachers  to  other  schools  in  many  parts  of  India. 
Another  occasion  for  rejoicing  is  that  many  of 
these  young  women,  coming  as  child-widows,  hav- 
ing been  educated  and  their  characters  built  up  into 
beautiful  womanliness,  have  since  been  married  and 
are  making  happy  homes  for  themselves.  Some, 
indeed  are  attempting  to  carry  out  Ramabai’s  plans 
by  inaugurating  similar  institutions  on  a small 
scale,  one  in  the  city  of  Poona  being  conducted  on 
strictly  Hindu  lines  with  caste  rules  and  regula- 
tions. 

A school  for  the  blind  is  one  of  the  features  of 
the  establishment;  and,  as  Ramabai’s  great  heart 
never  refused  the  afflicted,  and  deaf  and  dumb  have 
also  found  an  asylum  under  her  loving  care.  It  is 
impossible  to  tell  what  was  the  power  of  this  little 
woman  to  attract  the  love  and  obedience  of  the 
hundreds  of  daughters.  One  can  only  say  that  she 
was  endowed  with  the  gift  of  loving  and,  there- 
fore, of  being  loved.  Her  work  has  not  been  con- 
fined to  what  has  been  done  within  the  walls  of 
Mukti.  The  people  of  India  have  been  compelled 
to  change  their  views  on  the  subject  of  the  educa- 
tion of  women  within  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
and  the  success  of  Ramabai’s  work  has  been  a very 
large  factor  in  this  change.  She  used  to  relate  the 


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65 


story  of  a prince  who  visited  her  to  reproach  her 
for  abjuring  the  faith  of  her  fathers.  The  sight 
of  the  happy  children  seemed  to  arouse  the  ire  of 
his  highness,  but  he  voiced  the  feelings  of  many 
when  he  contemptuously  exclaimed : “ A school  for 
widows ! What  right  have  they  to  have  happiness 
or  education?  Those  who  have  no  husbands  or 
sons  to  serve  are  of  no  more  value  than  the  street 
dogs  and  crows,  and  might  as  well  live  like  them. 
They  can  easily  get  a grain  of  bread  and  a handful 
of  rice  to  subsist  upon.” 

It  is  a sad  pity  that  the  answer  to  this  is  not  re- 
corded, for  with  her  keen  mind  and  wit  there  must 
have  been  some  scathing  truth  presented  to  his 
Highness ! 


IV 


LIFE  STORIES 

THE  stories  of  some  of  the  students  in  the 
Sharada  Sadan  are  absorbing.  Many  have 
appeared  in  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  As- 
sociation. Manorama  made  a trip  to  the  United 
States  in  1890,  and  spoke  at  the  Annual  Meeting 
of  the  Association,  giving  the  following  incidents. 

“ I would  like  to  tell  of  the  lives  of  some  of  our 
girls  who  have  afterwards  proved  to  be  most  use- 
ful helpers.  One  was  married  when  she  was  five 
years  old  to  a man  of  forty-five  and  she  be- 
came a widow  when  she  was  six.  Then  she  lived 
with  her  husband’s  brother  who  kept  a country  inn 
in  Central  India.  As  the  child  grew  up  she  had 
to  do  much  of  the  work  of  the  house.  When  not 
more  than  ten  she  was  obliged,  besides  all  the  other 
work,  to  go  to  a well  about  a quarter  of  a mile 
from  the  house  a number  of  times  a day  to  bring 
water  in  the  copper  jars.  She  carried  one  on  her 
head,  one  on  her  hip  and  one  in  her  hand.  Then 
she  had  to  wait  on  the  guests  who  came  to  the 
inn,  and  sometimes  when  she  had  gone  to  bed  at 
eleven  she  would  have  to  get  up  because  guests 


66 


LIFE  STORIES 


67 


had  come.  She  must  get  warm  water  for  them  to 
wash  their  feet,  and  make  them  comfortable.  Her 
life  was  perfect  misery.  She  tried  to  run  away, 
but  she  did  not  know  the  country,  and  all  she  could 
do  was  to  run  a little  way  and  sit  down  on  the 
roadside  and  cry  until  people  found  her  and  took 
her  home  to  be  beaten  cruelly.  At  last  somebody 
took  pity  on  her  and  she  was  brought  to  our  school. 
She  remained  about  seven  years  and  got  an  educa- 
tion sufficient  to  make  her  self  supporting.  She 
has  been  married  to  a native  Christian  man  and 
is  very  happy.  She  and  her  husband  are  trying  to 
do  all  they  can  for  their  people.  Her  own  idea  is 
to  help  little  widows. 

Then  T.,  a fine  scholar,  came  from  South  India. 
She  knows  many  languages,  two  of  the  'dialects  of 
the  places  where  she  lived,  and  she  had  to  learn 
Marathi.  Then  she  studies  Sanscrit  and  English, 
and  now  takes  Latin.  She  was  married  when  only 
eight,  but  says  that  the  only  time  she  remembers 
seeing  her  husband  was  at  the  marriage.  She 
intends  to  open  a school  for  widows. 

Y.  was  married  when  quite  young  and  lived  in 
an  orthodox  Hindu  family.  Her  brother  brought 
his  wife  to  our  school,  but  would  not  bring  Y. 
because  she  was  a widow.  One  of  her  duties  was 
to  go  every  morning  to  get  water  from  a well. 
About  the  same  time  a man  living  next  door  started 
for  business.  In  India  it  is  considered  unlucky  for 


68 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


a widow  to  cross  one’s  path,  the  work  of  the  whole 
day  is  undone  by  it.  So  the  man  complained  and 
said  he  would  not  allow  it.  One  incident  which 
she  told  of  her  life  is  a bit  amusing.  A widow  is 
supposed  to  fast  regularly  once  a week,  and  once  a 
month  she  fasts  so  strictly  that  she  is  not  allowed 
even  to  drink  a drop  of  water.  When  the  time 
comes  for  her  to  take  her  first  meal  she  is  al- 
lowed only  to  eat  bread  made  of  a certain  kind  of 
flour.  Y.  had  been  fasting  this  way  and  when  it 
was  time  for  her  to  eat  she  asked  her  sister-in-law 
for  some  of  the  flour.  The  answer  was  that  there 
was  no  flour  of  the  kind  in  the  house.  Y.  begged 
for  she  was  very  hungry  but  the  sister-in-law  after 


tlour.  According  to  Hindu  philosophy  a man  must 
not  speak  what  is  not  true,  but  there  are  five  cases 
in  which  he  may  tell  a lie.  One  of  these  is  that  he 
may  say  what  is  not  true  to  a woman.  The  next 
day  Y.  found  a large  sack  of  this  particular  flour 
and  could  not  understand  why  her  sister-in-law 
should  have  said  this,  but  supposed  it  was  a mat- 
ter of  religion  and  therefore  all  right.  Hater  she 
came  to  our  school  and  is  so  much  touched  by  the 
kind  way  in  which  she  is  treated  that  she  says  she 
cannot  understand  why  you  are  so  kind  to  a 
widow.” 

--  “ J.  is  the  girl  who  wants  to  learn  everything. 

Her  head  had  been  shaven  and  she  had  been  disfig- 


a feint  of  searching  said  there  was  no 


LIFE  STORIES 


69 


ured  in  many  ways  so  that  she  looked  miserable. 
When  I saw  her  again  after  my  absence  of  some 
months  I did  not  know  her.  She  had  long  beautiful 
hair  and  was  a very  pretty  girl,  and  so  happy  that 
I did  not  recognize  her.  One  day  somebody  said 
to  her,  “ J.  are  you  not  tired?  ” “ No,  I no  tired,  I 
\ praising  God.”  That  is  what  keeps  her  happy. 

Touched  with  compassion  for  the  widows  who 
were  kept  in  the  Shrine  city  of  Brindaban,  the  re- 
puted birthplace  of  Krishna,  Ramabai,  accompanied 
by  a friend,  went  to  see  the  conditions,  Priests  met 
them  at  the  station,  and  choosing  one  as  guide  to 
find  them  shelter  for  the  night,  they  were  taken  to 
a small  dirty  room  where  without  food  they  waited 
for  the  dawn.  As  soon  as  light  appeared  they  at- 
tempted to  bathe  in  the  river  Jumna,  but  its  sacred 
waters  that  cleanse  the  soul  of  all  sin  appeared  to 
them  as  too  filthy  for  their  bodies.  Its  banks  were 
covered  with  dunghills  and  the  streets  and  alleys 
filled  with  intolerable  odors.  For  two  weeks  the 
Pundita  lived  in  this  center  of  Hindusim  going  in 
and  out,  suspected  because  she  did  not  visit  the 
temples  and  offer  worship  to  the  many  gods,  but, 
protected  by  the  mendicant’s  dress,  she  attempted 
to  rescue  some  of  the  hundreds  of  widows.  The 
younger  widows  were  taught  that  the  life  of  sin 
was  pleasing  to  the  god  Krishna  and  that  service 
in  the  temple  would  lead  to  a life  of  happiness  here- 
after. Those  who  resist  are  left  to  care  for  them- 


70 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


selves  as  best  they  may.  Some  starve  to  death, 
many  commit  suicide.  No  wonder  that  Ramabai 
exclaimed,  “ Oh  the  sin  and  misery  of  it  all ! The 
heartless  cruelty  of  man  to  woman  which  I saw  on 
every  side  is  beyond  description.  I thought  I had 
seen  the  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  of  the  old  times 
and  I wondered  at  the  long  suffering  of  God.” 

Seven  of  the  widows  would  have  been  glad  to 
leave  and  accompany  Ramabai,  but  their  plans  were 
discovered  and  they  were  placed  under  lock  and 
key  by  the  priests.  One  only  could  be  rescued, 
and  the  strain  of  the  experience  almost  cost  the  life 
of  the  heroic  Pandita ! 

As  a high-caste  woman,  as  previously  stated, 
Ramabai  was  a strict  vegetarian  and  continued  the 
practice  after  her  Christian  ideals  had  liberated  her 
from  the  enforcement  of  this.  By  preference  she 
avoided  meat  and  even  eggs,  using  milk,  the  fruits 
of  vine  and  field.  Her  skill  in  cookery  made  her 
menus  for  the  students  very  attractive  and  whole- 
some. An  American  visitor  described  the  domestic 
arrangements : “ Go  with  me  into  the  dining  room 
and  see  the  girls  at  breakfast.  On  each  side  of  the 
room  is  a row  of  ‘ plats,’  square  pieces  of  wood, 
well  finished,  having  a knob  at  each  corner  to  raise 
it  slightly  from  the  floor.  On  each  of  these  a pupil 
is  seated  on  one  side  of  the  room.  On  the  other 
side  sits  Ramabai  and  the  teachers.  On  the  floor 
in  front  of  each  a brass  plate  and  bowl  are  placed. 


LIFE  STORIES 


71 


One  of  the  girls  appointed  to  serve  at  this  meal 
drops  a spoonful  of  fried  vegetables  on  the  plate, 
another  follows  with  boiled  rice,  a third  with 
vegetable  curry  and  a fourth  with  a teaspoonful  of 
melted  butter.  These  are  dextrously  mixed  by 
even  the  youngest  child.  Then  rice  with  sour  but- 
termilk is  served  and  unleavened  bread  with  melted 
butter.  Milk  is  given  to  all  who  desire,  the  children 
and  the  delicate  girls  having  an  extra  quantity. 
This  is  the  diet  morning,  noon  and  night  year  in 
and  year  out,  except  that  at  tiffin  the  variety  is  less. 
On  holidays  there  is  a treat  of  fruit  and  very  simple 
sweetmeats.  . . . Everything  in  the  dining  room 
is  as  neat  and  orderly  as  it  is  simple.  Into  the 
kitchen  we  cannot  enter;  it  would  be  profanation 
(to  the  high  caste  workers  therein).  But  into  the 
dormitories  and  sick  wards  we  may  look  and  shall 
find  there  neatness,  order  and  good  ventilation.” 

The  first  student  to  come  to  Ramabai  was  little 
Godubai,  who  had  twice  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  ‘ 
her  unhappy  life,  but  was  restrained  by  the  fear  of 
being  bom  again  a woman!  Four  years  of  Rama- 
bai’s  influence  and  the  joyous  life  of  the  Sharada 
Sadan  and  she  was  married  to  Mr.  D.  K.  Karve, 
and  together  they  established  a work  for  child- 
widows  on  the  lines  learned  at  the  Sadan.  A letter 
from  Mr.  Karve  is  so  clear  that  we  quote  briefly : 

“ It  is  not  easy  to  mention  all  the  numerous 
advantages  which  my  wife  derived  from  her  stay 


72 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


of  four  years  at  the  Sadana.  She  has  come  out  of 
it  with  a keen  love  of  knowledge  and  a mind  en- 
larged and  enlightened.  In  the  time  she  was  there 
she  learned  Marathi  up  to  the  fifth  standard  and 
English  up  to  the  third  standard.  This  instruc- 
tion is  in  the  first  place  highly  useful  to  her,  and 
secondly  it  has  filled  her  with  a desire  to  learn 
more,  a desire  which  I am  doing  all  in  my  power 
to  gratify.  Her  views  about  life  and  our  work  in 
this  world  have  also  been  materially  altered.  She 
has  become  free  from  many  of  our  degrading  su- 
perstitions. She  feels  that  she  has  been  raised 
to  a sphere  where  she  can  render  good  work  for 
her  more  unfortunate  sisters;  and  life  seems  now 
a blessing  instead  of  a curse.  I find  that  she  is 
an  excellent  housewife.  The  habits  of  neatness 
and  order  which  she  acquired  in  the  Sadana  are  of 
great  use  in  managing  our  domestic  affairs.  In 
short,  I find  her  to  be  an  excellent  wife  and  an 
excellent  companion  in  life,  and  feel  sure  that  in  her 
company  in  the  natural  course  of  things  many 
happy  days  are  in  store  for  me.” 

Manoramabai  at  all  times  manifested  a sympa- 
thy with  the  students  of  the  Sadan.  She  writes: 
“ Soon  after  the  World  War  broke  out  a request 
was  made  by  Lady  Wimbledon  to  the  women  of 
Bombay  Province  that  they  should  help  her  in 
doing  as  much  as  possible  for  the  relief  of  wounded 
soldiers.  The  students  in  the  Sharada  Sadan  were 
keenly  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  war. 


Manoramabai — Heart’s  Joy 


LIFE  STORIES 


73 


Many  were  sufficiently  educated  to  understand  the 
situation  and  they  talked  and  prayed  about  current 
events.  This  in  an  American  home  might  not  have 
been  surprising,  but  in  an  Indian  home  of  thirty 
years  ago  it  would  have  been  an  almost  unheard  of 
thing  for  women  to  engage  intelligently  in  such  a 
conversation.”  Mano  continues: 

“ We  have  blind  girls,  and  for  some  time  I have 
been  feeling  that  I could  do  better  work  in  this  de- 
partment if  I could  have  someone  to  help  me.  A 
lady  has  come  from  England  who  has  had  train- 
ing in  a Blind  School.  ...  We  are  trying  to  start 
a silk  industry.  My  mother  has  planted  a number 
of  mulberry  trees  and  castor  oil  plants,  and  we  have 
a number  of  worms  spinning  their  coccoons  in 
baskets  made  by  our  girls. 

“ During  the  last  hot  weather  vacation,  I took  a 
party  of  15  to  Mahableshwar  for  a few  days.  Liv- 
ing as  we  do  here  in  this  village  away  from  the 
city  with  its  civilization  and  all  its  modern  improve- 
ments, we  sometimes  find  it  difficult  to  explain  to 
our  girls  the  books  which  they  read,  because  their 
ideas  of  many  things  are  so  vague.  For  instance, 
some  have  never  seen  the  sea,  some  do  not  remem- 
ber ever  being  in  a train,  some  have  never  seen  a 
river  or  a waterfall  or  a high  mountain;  a tele- 
phone, an  electric  lamp,  a tramcar,  an  elevator,  a 
large  English  shop,  and  many  other  things  are  to 
them  things  only  in  name,  and  we  find  that  the  easi- 
est way  to  explain  them  is  by  taking  parties  of  girls 


74, 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


to  Bombay  or  to  some  other  place  of  interest  where 
they  will  be  able  to  see  things  for  themselves. 
There  is  an  old  fort  in  Gulbarga  which  is  an  ob- 
ject of  great  interest.  I often  take  one  or  two 
girls  with  me  when  I go  there  and  let  them  study 
the  place.  We  had  a good  laugh  once  in  Bombay 
when  a girl  about  eighteen  years  old  who  was  pre- 
paring for  her  College  Entrance  examination  saw 
the  sea  for  the  first  time  and  drank  some  of  its 
water,  forgetting  that  it  would  be  salt.  She  had 
read  about  it  but  had  forgotten ! ” 


V 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT,  SERVANT. 


S*-a.  (>.  8lf 

i3  if 

t 


YES,  the  order  is  right.  The  distinguished 
woman  whose  life  is  here  briefly  portrayed 
was  first  a scholar  of  no  mean  achievement, 
master  of  seven  languages,  with  more  than  two 
thousand  verses  of  the  Vedas  at  the  command  of 
her  wonderful  memory,  giving  public  addresses 
in  English  as  well  as  to  audiences  in  the  vernaculars 
of  India — acclaimed  Sarasvati — yes,  scholar  is  her 
first  title  and  well  deserved! 

Saint?  Yes,  also,  for  unembittered  by  the  sore 
trial  of  her  girlhood  by  the  loss  of  all  that  life 
held  dear  in  the  way  of  family  ties,  purified  by  the 
limitations  which  the  religious  customs  of  her  land 
placed  upon  her,  and  seeing  through  the  mist  of 
Hindu  ideals  the  true  God  to  whom  her  father  di- 
rected his  prayers!  Saintly  in  character  then  and 
developed  as  she  found  the  Christ  who  is  the 
propitiation  for  the  sin  of  the  whole  world. 

Servant — verily!  For  did  she  not  put  aside 
thought  of  worldly  promotion  and  gain  that  she 
might  place  her  hands  under  the  burden  of  the 
hoary  centuries  of  oppression  of  the  child-widows 
and  later  the  starving  and  the  afflicted.  “ I am 


75 


76 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


among  you  as  one  that  serveth,”  was  the  word  of 
her  Master,  and  she  followed  Him.  Against  the 
ideal  of  doing  good  by  renunciation  and  austerity 
for  the  sake  of  laying  up  merit  for  her  future,  she 
served  for  the  sake  of  the  One  whose  life  and  ex- 
ample met  all  the  needs  of  her  own  heart,  and 
whose  love  encompasses  the  entire  race  of  men. 
“ I am  among  you  as  he  that  serveth,”  said  her 
Christ.  Following  Him  and  Him  alone  she  was 
definitely  led  into  the  path  of  service — a unique 
service,  as  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale  said  in  an 
address  to  the  Association : “ Ramabai  dedicated 
herself  to  this  work  as  Luther  dedicated  himself  to 
the  reformation  of  the  church,  so  that  she  will  stand 
out  in  history  as  one  of  those  remarkable  persons 
taking  a hand  in  particular  work. 

“ General  Armstrong,  perhaps  the  greatest  edu- 
cator of  his  generation  in  this  country,  always  said 
that  the  business  of  the  Hampton  Institute  was  to 
create  a class  among  the  blacks — a class  of  people 
every  man  and  woman  of  which  shall  be  interested 
in  the  education  of  the  blacks.  This  little  woman  is 
creating  a class  of  women  in  India  every  blessed 
one  of  whom  shall  be  interested  in  the  education  of 
child-widows.” 

At  the  beginning  of  her  work  Ramabai  was  ac- 
customed to  say  that  she  could  have  both  the  Bible 
and  the  Veda  on  the  shelves  of  her  school  and 
pupils  might  read  what  they  chose.  Later  the  Bible 
became  more  and  more  the  guide  of  the  daily  liv- 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  77 


ing  of  the  Mukti  schools,  but  from  choice,  not 
compulsion. 

Ramabai’s  high  reputation  as  a Sanscrit  scholar 
gave  her  rare  opportunities.  When  on  the  occasion 
of  the  first  meeting  of  the  National  Congress  in 
Bombay  in  1889  among  the  two  thousand  dele- 
gates were  three  women,  largely  because  of  the 
Pundita’s  influence.  This  national  congress  was 
convened  for  the  purpose  of  the  spirit  of  unity 
among  the  diverse  races  of  Hindustan  and  for  call- 
ing the  attention  of  the  British  Government  to  ex- 
isting grievances  and  needed  reforms.  Ramabai 
spoke  forcibly  on  two  resolutions  passed,  one  re- 
lating to  marriage  and  the  other  to  the  shaving  of 
the  head  of  the  widow.  She  dwelt  on  the  injustice 
of  depriving  the  widow  of  her  property  if  she  mar- 
ried again.  With  her  usual  courage  she  denounced 
as  a wild  superstition  the  belief  that  if  the  widows 
wore  their  hair  long  it  would  serve  to  bind  their 
husbands  in  hell,  and  asked  the  men  how  they 
would  like  to  have  their  heads  shaved  because  of 
the  death  of  a wife!  When  she  arose  to  speak 
there  was  much  crowding  and  pushing  among  the 
men  who  desired  to  hear  her.  After  quiet  was  re- 
stored she  naively  remarked,  “ It  is  not  strange,  my 
countrymen,  that  my  voice  is  small,  for  you  have 
never  given  a woman  the  chance  to  make  her  voice 
strong!”  She  then  rushed  along  in  a rapid  talk, 
moving  her  audience  to  laughter  and  tears.  The 
resolutions  she  thus  supported  were  carried  by  a 


78 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


large  majority,  and  the  request  that  the  members 
of  the  Conference  pledge  themselves  not  to  allow 
marriage  until  the  bride  had  completed  her  four- 
teenth year  was  also  carried  by  a large  majority. 

Her  action  at  this  Conference  created  such  in- 
terest that  she  received  invitations  to  lecture  in  dis- 
tant cities.  She  therefore  made  a long  tour  speak- 
ing on  education  and  with  direct  reference  to  the 
child  widow  problem. 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  some  Hindus  were 
liberal  enough  to  recognize  her  scholarship  even 
after  she  became  a Christian.  At  Barsi  she  was  in- 
vited to  lecture  and  a meeting  was  arranged  in  a 
hall — but  the  women  did  not  dare  to  come.  The 
men  then  urged  her  to  read  for  them  the  Hindu 
sacred  books.  She  said,  with  characteristic  frank- 
ness— “ All  right,  I have,  like  Paul  of  old,  to  be  a 
Jew  for  the  Jews  and  a Greek  for  the  Greeks!” 
Selecting  a portion  of  one  of  the  Puranas  she  read 
and  explained  to  the  crowd  of  men  and  the  few 
women,  and  so  delighted  were  the  auditors  that  ar- 
rangements were  immediately  made  for  this  “ semi- 
religious ” lecture  to  be  repeated  that  afternoon  in 
the  temple.  Ramabai’s  sense  of  the  ludricous  came 
to  her  aid  here  as  in  many  other  occasions — she 
wrote,  “ Here  was  the  climax ! Nobody  had  ever 
seen  or  heard  of  the  orthodox  Hindu  letting  a 
Christian  outcast  enter  his  sacred  temple!  The 
people  of  Barsi  not  only  allowed  me  to  go  to  their 
temple  but  besought  me  to  go  and  read  a portion 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  79 


of  their  sacred  book!  I thought  this  a nineteenth 
century  miracle.”  So  wise  was  the  Pundita  in 
the  use  of  the  opportunity  that  the  women  pressed 
her  to  stay  longer  with  them. 

It  is  encouraging  to  find  that  many  enlighted 
people  among  those  of  Hindu  faith  did  welcome 
this  apostle  of  a brighter  day.  A Madras  paper 
/ thus  characterized  the  distinguished  visitor  to  that 
city  “ Pundita  Ramabai  combines  in  herself  what 
even  in  men  in  India  is  rare: — a deep  knowledge 
of  the  Hindu  Shastras  and  also  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  life,  thought  and  speech  of  the 
most  advanced  nations  of  the  West.  For  several 
centuries  a lady  Sanyasi  so  learned  and  so  devoted 
to  the  elevation  of  her  sex  as  Ramabai  has  not 
appeared  on  the  stage  of  Indian  life.  In  spite  of 
her  conversion  to  Christianity  the  simple  and  un- 
ostentatious life  she  is  at  present  leading,  her  earn- 
est eloquence  in  a sacred  cause,  and  the  invincible 
front  she  presents  to  orthodoxy  by  her  citations 
from  the  Vedas  and  Puranas,  would  in  any  other 
country  but  India,  in  any  other  age  but  the  pres- 
ent one  of  extreme  selfishness,  have  sufficed  to 
create  a moral  and  social  revolution;  but  even  in 
the  degenerate  times  in  which  our  lot  is  cast,  we 
are  hopeful  that  the  pleadings  of  the  Pundita  will 
remind  our  educated  men  of  their  duty  to  women- 
kind.” 

In  other  cities  Ramabai  was  received  with 
high  honors,  feted,  and  garlanded  with  flowers, 


~(y  « 


80 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


and  sprinkled  with  perfumed  water.  It  was  the 
answer  to  the  centuries  of  mute  protest  of  India’s 
women  against  inhuman  cruelty, — the  protest 
that  was  at  last  voiced  in  the  eloquent  life  of 
one  heroic  woman,  who  gathered  the  miseries  of 
her  sisters  into  her  own  heart  and  turned  them 
into  the  sweetness  of  hope  and  the  strength  of 
prophecy. 

The  Editor  of  the  Bombay  Educational  Record 
published  the  following:  “If  the  election  of  Mr. 
Nauroji  to  Parliament  was  a romantic  incident, 
as  The  Times  says,  what  epithet,  we  wonder,  should 
be  applied  to  the  journey  to  America  of  an  unpro- 
tected Hindu  widow,  to  her  loving  reception  by 
American  ladies,  to  the  formation  of  Ramabai 
Circles,  to  the  return  of  the  wanderer  to  India,  but 
with  links  binding  her  to  America,  and  finally  to 
the  installation  a few  days  ago  of  a Sharada  Sadan 
in  a building  of  its  own  with  an  assured  income, 
that  will  enable  it  to  carry  on  its  beneficient  work. 
Romantic  is  no  word  for  it!  It  is  gratifying  to 
know  that  all  that  is  best  in  native  society  is  in 
hearty  sympathy  with  the  work  of  the  gifted  and 
brave  Maratha  lady.  The  race  which  can  produce 
such  a woman  certainly  need  to  dispair  of  nothing, 
and  the  whole  pathetic  story,  so  creditable  as  it  is 
to  America,  gives  one  quite  a new  conception  of  the 
possibilities  which  seem  to  lie  in  the  future  from 
the  increasing  recognition  of  the  solidarity  of  man- 
kind.” The  utterances  of  the  Subodha  Patrika 


The  Chapel  and  School  House  at  Mukti. 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  81 


are  yet  more  significant.  “ The  history  of  Pundita 
Ramabai  School  may  well  deserve  to  be  written  in 
characters  of  gold.  It  is  a Hindu  woman’s  pluck 
which  brought  it  into  existence  and  it  is  American 
generosity  which  supports  it.” 

Even  the  task  of  guiding  the  lives  of  her  im- 
mense family,  of  directing  the  industries,  farm 
work,  printing,  weaving,  etc.,  in  which  every  girl 
was  trained  unless  she  was  found  to  be  especially 
well  adapted  to  the  teaching  profession,  was  not 
enough  for  this  great  hearted  leader.  She  looked 
beyond  the  walls  of  her  mission  upon  the  needy 
"folk  of  her  race,  the  Marathi  people.  The  ordinary 
villager  was  not  able  to  understand  the  language 
of  the  translation  of  the  Bible  as  it  is  in  the 
classical  Marathi,  so  well  adapted  to  the  demands 
of  the  educated,  so  she  determined  to  give  the 
people  a translation  in  the  vulgate — the  every  day 
speech  of  the  villagers.  In  order  to  understand 
perfectly  the  meaning  of  the  original  she  spent 
some  years  in  preparing  an  interlinear  translation 
of  five  different  versions  of  the  words  and  idioms 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  her  preparation  was  as 
thorough  for  the  New.  To  supplement  her  own 
knowledge  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  she  had  several 
students  make  a special  study  of  each  language  and 
with  these  set  herself  to  her  great  task.  All  the 
printing  required  was  done  by  the  girls  in  the  press 
at  Mukti ; and  when  one  thinks  of  the  multifarious 
characters,  Roman,  Marathi,  Greek  and  Hebrew 


I fj 

I ' 


82 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


type  used  in  the  typesetting,  the  greatness  of  the 
achievement  becomes  almost  incredible.  Not 
seventy  translators,  but  Ramabai  alone  with  her 
students  made  this  version!  And  she  did  it  well! 
The  support  of  her  beloved  daughter  Mano ramabai 
made  possible  the  leisure  necessary  for  this 
task.  After  Mano  had  finished  her  course  in  Bom- 
bay University  she  took  entire  charge  of  the  school 
work  in  the  various  departments,  and  with  the  aid 
of  teachers  raised  almost  entirely  from  the  institu- 
tion brought  the  work  of  the  Sharada  Sadan  up  to 
Government  requirements — a course  somewhat  like 
that  of  our  American  High  School. 

Intensely  loyal  to  her  own  land  and  people, 
Ramabai  had  the  national  spirit;  but  she  recog- 
nized that  only  by  taking  the  best  of  all  the  world’s 
store  of  learning  and  gifts  could  India  be  restored 
to  its  former  greatness.  At  first  she  steadfastly  re- 
fused to  accept  Government  aid  for  her  school,  in 
the  belief  that  she  would  be  more  free  if  she  did 
not  attempt  to  comply  with  the  conditions  laid 
down  by  the  Educational  Laws.  But  after  almost 
twenty  years  she  became  convinced  that  these  plans 
were  really  best  for  the  educational  development  of 
the  people,  so  she  adapted  her  work  to  the  Govern- 
ment conditions  and  recognized  their  efforts  made 
for  the  intellectual  elevation  of  her  country.  The 
idea  of  keeping  living  conditions  simple  in  order 
that  the  burden  of  poorer  people  might  not  be 
made  heavier  was  always  paramount  in  her  mind. 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  83 


The  looms  in  her  institution  were  the  “ chakkas  ” 
of  the  village,  the  oil  presses  were  such  as  used  by 
the  people,  the  farm  work  was  carried  on  with  na- 
tive tools  except  where  she  recognized  the  superior 
advantage  of  foreign  implements  for  increasing 
the  yield  of  the  fields;  her  students  worked  in  the 
printing  office  and  on  the  presses,  learning  not 
only  the  lighter  tasks,  but  how  to  care  for  the 
mechanical  equipment,  being  taught  by  expert  ma- 
chinists. The  growth  of  the  settlement  around 
Mukti  soon  entitled  it  to  be  recognized  as  a village, 
and  Ramabai  was  appointed  “ Lambadar,”  the  of- 
ficial head. 

In  1919  the  British  Government  awarded  to 
Pundita  Ramabai  the  Kaiser-I-Hind  medal  for  dis- 
tinguished service  to  Indian  education.  The  value 
to  the  country  of  her  initiative  in  providing  for 
the  lessening  of  economic  waste  by  her  demonstra- 
tion that  the  millions  of  widows  might  be  educated 
and  thus  made  valuable  to  the  community,  instead 
of  being  a burden  to  the  family  and  a blight  on  the 
nation,  was  thus  fitly  recognized.  Ramabai’s  health 
at  the  time  did  not  permit  her  to  go  to  Bombay 
for  the  ceremony  of  conferring  this  high  honor, 
so  Manoramabai  received  it  for  her. 

Manoramabai  extended  the  influence  of  the 
Sharada  Sadan  by  establishing,  about  eight  years 
ago,  another  school  at  Gulbarga,  in  the  Nizam’s 
dominions,  which  has  done  fine  work,  the  daughters 
of  leading  men  of  the  region  being  enrolled.  Other 


/ 

i \sr 


84* 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


schools  have  sprung  up  in  different  parts  of  India, 
which  owe  their  initiative  directly  to  Ramabai’s 
influence;  of  these  some  are  not  Christian,  but  they 
are  working  for  the  elevation  of  the  widows  and 
thus  carrying  on  her  ideals. 

Mano’s  activities  in  other  directions  were  mani- 
fold. With  a companion  she  made  trips  to 
Australia  and  New  Zealand,  presenting  the  work 
with  great  acceptability,  and  Circles  formed  under 
this  inspiration  have  contributed  generously  to  the 
support  of  the  Sharada  Sadan. 

In  1920  the  building  held  by  the  Association  in 
Poona  was  sold  for  seventy-two  thousand  Rupees, 
of  which  twelve  thousand  was  placed  in  Ramabai’s 
hands  and  sixty  thousand  invested  in  India  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  R.  A.  Hume,  the  representative  of 
the  Association,  for  the  support  of  the  Sharada 
Sadan,  for  this  institution  must  continue  its  work, 
and  funds  will  still  be  needed  from  the  friends  who 
believe  in  the  value  of  education  for  India’s  women. 

All  plans  of  the  Association  as  well  as  those  of 
Ramabai  looked  towards  the  continuance  of  the 
work  under  the  direction  of  her  gifted  daughter, 
Manoramabai.  Heart’s  Joy  she  had  in  every  deed 
proven  herself  to  be,  taking  from  her  mother  the 
strain  of  every  possible  duty  she  could  perform, 
working  in  fullest  sympathy  and  with  marked  suc- 
cess. However,  God’s  plan  was  different.  Her  fail- 
ing health  had  for  some  time  been  a cause  of  anx- 
iety, and  in  spite  of  the  most  tender  care  given  at 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  85 


the  Hospital  at  Miraj,  her  constitution  was  unable 
to  sustain  the  burden  of  work  which  she  had  so 
bravely  carried.  An  operation  was  resorted  to,  *■**?■' L* 
but  her  heart  was  not  equal  to  the  strain  and  she  ’ * ■■ ' 
went  quietly  to  the  heavenly  country  towards  which 
her  thoughts  and  love  had  constantly  turned.  The 
stricken  mother  was  noble  in  this  affliction,  which 
meant  indescribable  loss  to  her  work  as  well  as  to 
her  loving  heart.  She  wrote  to  the  officers  of  the 
Association  “ Let  me  thank  you  for  your  loving 
sympathy.  All  I have  to  say  is  ‘ The  Lord  gave 
and  the  Lord  has  taken  away,  Blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord.’ 

“ There  are  360  pupils  studying  in  the  Sharada 
Sadan,  the  Primary  and  the  Kindergarten.  This 
work  shall  be  continued  as  long  as  God  gives  us 
grace  and  strength.  The  school  was  well  organized 
and  brought  to  its  present  state  by  my  daughter, 
who  has  gone  to  the  next  world  before  me ! One 
of  her  last  acts  was  to  make  the  time  tables  for 
the  school  before  it  recommenced  in  June.  She 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  and  spoke 
and  arranged  for  the  next  meeting  to  be  held 
shortly,  saying  that  though  she  would  not  be  here 
to  attend  the  session  as  she  was  going  to  the  hos- 
pital ; but  all  the  business  would  be  carried  on  in  due 
order,  as  she  had  arranged  for  everything.”  These 
words  were  almost  prophetic,  for  Manoramabai 
passed  into  the  presence  of  the  King  before  the 
next  meeting  took  place. 


86 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


Though  the  bereaved  mother  carried  her  grief 
so  courageously,  the  effect  of  the  sorrow,  however 
bravely  borne,  and  the  loss  of  the  support  which 
Mano  had  so  unfailingly  given,  proved  too  much 
for  a constitution  which,  strong  in  the  beginning, 
had  been  enfeebled  by  the  rigors  of  her  many 
pilgrimages  and  the  austerities  of  her  early  life. 
Soon  after  sending  to  the  Association  the  Annual 


I 

i 


Report  of  the  Sharada  Sadan  she  quietly  appointed 
as  her  successor  Miss  Lissa  Hastie,  an  English 
friend  who  had  worked  with  her  for  the  past 
twelve  years  and  who  is  in  full  sympathy  with  her 
ideals.  On  April  5th  came  the  cable  which  an- 
nounced “ Ramabai  Promoted.” 

Yes,  promoted"" to  tbe  service  above!  What  a 
welcome  from  the  thousands  whose  lives  she  had 
touched  with  blessings — the  little  ones,  the  famine 
stricken,  the  blind  and  the  leper;  all  these  had  re- 
ceived ministry  from  her  hands. 

The  funeral  service  was  conducted  by  Rev.  R. 
A.  Hume,  of  Amednagar,  the  representative  of  the 
Association  in  India,  and  a life  long  friend  of 
Ramabai’s,  assisted  by  Rev.  W.  W.  Bruere,  acting 
pastor  at  Mukti.  The  simple  casket  was  carried 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  young  women  of  Mukti,  and 
the  thousand  students  of  Mukti  followed  to  the  vil- 
lage cemetery  a quarter  of  a mile  distant.  Over 
the  coffin  was  a white  cloth  on  which  was  in- 
scribed, “ We  shall  all  be  changed,  the  trumpet 
shall  sound  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incor- 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  87 


/ 


ruptible,  and^we  shall  be  changed.”  On  the  cover 
of  the  casket  was  the  inscription  “ The  Pundita 
Ramabai  Medhavi — born  April  23,  1858;  slept 
April  5,  1922.” 

Remarkable  was  the  self  control  of  those  who 
might  naturally  have  been  expected  to  indulge  in 
the  Oriental  emotional  excess,  instead  of  which 
there  was  notable  effort  at  self  control,  and  while 
there  were  occasional  outbreaks  of  crying  it  was 
evident  that  the  faith  and  the  teachings  of  the  be- 
loved mother  had  impressed  upon  them  the  lesson 
\of  the  rising  again  to  blessed  immortality. 

This  remarkable  woman  had  held  her  mind  open 
to  new  truths,  and  therefore  was  sometimes  in  dan- 
ger of  being  influenced  by  some  who  held  extreme 
views.  From  this  danger  her  characteristic  com- 
mon sense  released  her,  and,  without  adopting  any 
special  creed,  her  Christianity  was  of  that  type 
which  embraces  with  warm  affection  every  other 
follower  of  her  Lord  and  King.  The  very  breath 
of  her  being  was  for  the  Master,  and  her  motto 
„of  life  “ Others,”  was  the  index  of  her  wide  af- 
ection.  The  name  she  gave  to  her  mission  was 
Mukti — Salvation— and  the  deep  spiritual  life 
which  was  manifest  in  the  daily  program  cannot  be 
forgotten  by  those  who  have  been  privileged  to 
witness  it.  The  effect  of  the  voices  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred girls  and  women  united  in  vocal  prayer,  each 
asking  for  the  needs  of  their  own  hearts  without 
attention  to  those  about  them,  was  a unique  ex- 


N 


Uatf 

ff'Ai/j'hf 


88 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


perience,  and  one  which  called  for  no  criticism  of 
the  apparent  confusion  of  sound,  but  a questioning 
as  to  the  effect  which  such  earnestness  had  on  the 
hearts  of  those  who  could  shut  out  self  and  com- 
mune with  their  Father  in  Heaven.  India  has 
much  to  teach  to  us  of  the  more  self-conscious 
VX  western  world. 

Though  unable  to  hear  the  religious  services, 
Ramabai  was  always  present  if  health  permitted, 
and  the  very  sight  of  the  white  robed  figure  seated 
in  prayer  and  meditation  was  a benediction  to  all 
her  family  as  well  as  to  the  visitors  to  Mukti,  who 
came  from  all  lands  of  the  earth  to  witness  and 
marvel  at  the  work  of  one  woman’s  hands  and 
mind.  Yet  with  all  she  was  very  human,  and  her 
extraordinary  executive  ability  which  kept  every- 
thing moving  in  perfect  order  and  harmony  did  not 
make  her  stern  and  unlovely. 

Miss  Fuller,  one  of  her  younger  associates  at 
Mukti,  gives  this  charming  picture  of  the  beloved 
leader : “ She  was  a heroine  even  to  her  daily  help- 
ers. She  was  one  of  the  finest  types  of  the  Kon- 
kansth  Brahmins,  finely  organized,  very  keen  in 
all  her  senses  until  she  became  deaf  as  a result 
of  sleeping  on  damp  earth  during  her  pilgrimages 
before  she  became  a Christian.  Not  much  over 
five  feet  in  height,  small  boned  and  very  shapely, 
with  a remarkable  presence,  beautiful  for  its  un- 
conscious dignity  and  modesty.  She  always  wore 
white  cotton  saris,  token  of  her  widowhood  (her 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  89 


hair  short  for  the  same  reason).  Her  little  feet 
that  had  walked  over  four  thousand  miles  on  pil- 
grimages were  our  delight.  Whatever  she  did  she 
did  with  delicate  accuracy,  grace  and  charm. 
Whether  she  corrected  proofs,  or  fed  a baby,  or 
listened  to  a bore,  she  was  exquisite.  Her  name 
means  “ Delight  ” with  the  double  sense  of  Delight- 
Giver  or  Delight-Filled,  and  her  faculty  for  enjoy- 
ment was  one  of  the  proofs  of  her  humanness. 
Her  sense  of  humour  was  a quenchless  fountain 
and  she  had  the  most  infectious  laugh!  I have 
been  told  that  years  ago  when  she  was  with  a 
certain  very  entertaining  friend  they  would  both 
laugh  until  they  could  no  longer  sit  up.  One  might 
be  very  bold  with  her  if  one  were  humorous.  If 
one  told  her  she  was  wonderful,  one  was  gravely 
suppressed.  But  once  when  I remarked  on  her 
cleverness,  using  an  idiom  with  two  meanings,  she 
promptly  chose  the  unflattering  sense  and  shook 
with  laughter.  She  could  be  very  droll.  When 
she  was  too  ill  to  talk  much,  she  would  send  us 
into  fits  of  laughter  sometimes  with  one  absurd 
gesture — made  with  the  utmost  dignity  of  her 
delicate  hands.  Bai  was  always  doing  thoughtful 
pretty  things,  and  I have  never  in  this  world  known 
anyone  so  generous,  so  big-hearted,  so  lavish- 
hearted.  She  was  almost  constitutionally  incapa- 
ble of  selling  anything.  With  the  exception  of  the 
great  joy  she  always  had  in  telling  her  country- 
men of  her  adored  Saviour  and  Master  Jesus 


90 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


Christ,  in  seeing  any  of  them  find  Him,  and  in 
translating,  printing  on  her  own  presses  and  giv- 
ing out  (gratis  always)  the  Bible  or  portions  of 
it,  there  was  nothing  which  gave  her  so  much 
pleasure  as  giving.  Doubtless  her  own  experi- 
ences of  hunger  in  famine  time  deepened  the 
satisfaction  she  felt  in  satisfying  hunger  in  others. 
She  simply  could  not  understand  meanness  and 
selfishness.” 

She  loved  children  and  children  went  to  her 
as  needles  to  a magnet.  Many  a baby  at  Mukti, 
some  of  them  now  half-grown,  has  been  fed  and 
bathed  with  her  own  hands,  not  occasionally,  but 
week  in  and  week  out.  And  many  a girl  and 
woman  could  boast  that  “ Sarasvatidevi  ” had 
sponged  and  rubbed  her  down  in  fever  and  sent  her 
tidbits  from  her  own  plate.  Bai  has  written  a lit- 
tle song  for  children  about  two  of  her  cats  who 
used  to  quarrel  because  one  of  them  would  nurse 
the  other’s  kitten  and  its  own  proper  mother  ob- 
jected. She  wrote  many  other  such  songs  for 
Muldnyana,  the  primer  she  wrote  and  published 
for  village  children.  She  took  six  months  from 
her  Bible  translation  to  write  the  poetry,  the  read- 
ing lessons  and  other  matter  in  that  splendid  lit- 
tle book.  No  wonder  it  is  so  popular.  It  is  the 
only  one  of  her  publications  which  she  ever  sold, 
as  she  had  strong  prejudices  against  selling  the 
Word  of  God.  The  lessons  in  the  primer  are  a 
connected  story  of  the  Gospel,  but  not  in  the  actual 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  91 


words  of  the  Bible.  When  I once  remarked  to 
a young  Brahman  visitor  how  unusual  it  was  for 
a mind  packed  with  such  solid  knowledge  and  great 
learning  as  hers  to  be  able  to  write  such  pretty 
and  even  nonsensical  songs  for  children  as  the 
primer  contains,  he  said  that  when  a door  was 
so  large,  small  things  could  go  through  as  easily 
as  big  ones,  which  I thought  a delightful  answer. 
It  was  that  remarkable  combination  of  great  ad- 
ministrative ability  and  faculty  for  minute  de- 
tail, which  in  conjunction  with  her  great  confi- 
dence in  God  enabled  her  to  do  so  much  and  so 
many  different  kinds  of  things.  Max  Muller  said 
she  had  one  of  the  most  remarkable  memories  in 
the  world,  and  of  that  we  had  daily  proof  to  the 
very  end. 

Bai  was  never  too  busy  to  be  courteous.  Few 
things  displeased  her  more  than  rudeness  or  un- 
couthness in  those  who  should  know  better;  and 
if  her  own  specially  trained  elder  girls  failed  in 
good  manners  to  a guest  she  was  grieved  to  the 
heart.  She  was  gracious  without  effusion.  Her 
fine  breeding  showed  constantly  in  the  simplicity 
of  her  manners  and  speech.  She  never  flattered, 
and  one  could  count  on  her  for  a sincere  opinion. 
She  would  suffer  much  discomfort  rather  than 
hurt  anyone’s  feelings,  and  I have  heard  her  sigh 
softly  for  wasted  time  and  aching  head  after  listen- 
ing to  volubility  hold  forth  on  emptiness.  How- 
ever, when  there  was  need  she  could  dismiss  people 


92 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


so  beautifully  that  they  scarcely  knew  themselves 
how  the  tide  of  their  enthralling  discourse  had  been 
stemmed. 

Another  most  evident  trait  of  Bai’s  character 
was  her  profoundly  sincere  and  lovely  humility.  It 
did  not  consist  of  making  modest  speeches  or  abas- 
ing herself — nor  was  she  secretly  warmed  by 
praise.  No  one  who  knew  her  could  doubt  the 
genuineness  of  her  dislike  of  adulation.  She  has 
been  known  to  get  up  and  go  suddenly  to  her  room 
— as  one  involuntarily  leaves  a suffocating  room 
— when  the  talk  turned  on  herself. 

“ I suppose  the  secret  of  her  bigness,  of  her  glori- 
ous humility,  of  her  power,  was  that  she  was  so 
wholly  given  to  God,  so  sold  to  His  will,  so  ut- 
terly and  joyously  the  bondservant  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  there  was  left  in  her  no  room  for 
I self.  She  wanted  nothing  for  herself — not  merely 
was  she  free  from  the  desire  of  money  and  things, 
but  from  any  personal  ambition,  from  any  craving 
for  fame,  or  even  the  love,  appreciation  and  thanks 
of  those  she  served.  With  all  her  heart  she  wanted 
that  God  be  glorified  in  all  things  and  that  His 
Kingdom  come.  She  never  tried  to  attract  any- 
one; one  felt  she  would  not  raise  a finger  to  at- 
tach one  to  herself.  It  did  not  come  into  her 
mind.  She  only  wanted  those  who  worked  with 
her  to  work  for  God’s  glory  as  she  did.  To  her 
it  was  an  honor  and  privilege  to  serve  Him  at 
Mukti.  She  had  herself  deliberately  laid  aside  a 


SCHOLAR,  SAINT  AND  SERVANT  93 


great  and  unique  career  for  the  joy  of  serving 
her  Master’s  brethren,  whether  greater,  lesser  or 
least,  she  did  not  care.  To  her  it  was  a joy — 
high,  solemn,  heart-lifting  joy;  and  there  was  no 
choice  at  all  between  service  at  Mukti  and  some 
lucrative  post,  a professional  career  or  mere  mar- 
riage. These  were  only  commonplaces.  I have 
heard  her  say  that  if  millions  of  Hindu  widows 
could  live  celibate,  just  because  custom  forbade 
them  remarriage — even  though  the  first  marriage 
had  been  only  nominal — surely  it  was  no  great 
thing  for  Christian  women  to  give  up  marriage 
for  the  service  of  the  needy,  the  afflicted,  the 
destitute,  and  for  the  bringing  in  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  Can  the  ocean  understand  the  pond? 
And  is  it  strange  if  the  pond  sometimes  wistfully 
thought  the  ocean  a little  unfeeling?  And  it  was 
because  she  did  not  seek  love  that  it  flowed  to  her 
as  rivers  to  the  sea.  She  inspired  the  tenderest 
devotion,  the  blindest  faith,  the  maddest  loyalty. 
It  was  curious — and  yet  not  really  so — that  she 
should  have  been  kissed  so  much  when  she  was 
so  unresponsive  to  merely  emotional  demonstra- 
tion. I have  seen  American  and  European  men 
visitors  kiss  her  hand  as  though  she  were  a queen- 
mother,  while  for  me  the  dab  of  cream  of  top  of 
all  was  the  delectable  fact  that  I was  kissing  the 
Pandita  Ramabai  Dongre  Medhavi,  acclaimed 
Sarasvati  (Goddess  of  Wisdom)  herself  by  the 
assembled  pundits  of  Calcutta,  greater  altogether 


94 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


than  her  great  international  reputation,  and  one  of 
the  best  and  sweetest  women  that  ever  lived.” 

This  tender  tribute  is  well  deserved.  We  who 
know  Ramabai  from  her  first  visit  to  the  United 
States  can  testify  to  her  absolute  unselfish  na- 
ture, and  her  rare  gifts.  Dr.  Fleming,  in  “ Build- 
ing With  India,”  speaks  for  us  who  knew  her 
intimately : — “ In  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church  Pundita  Ramabai  will  stand  out  as  the 
greatest  Indian  Christian  of  her  generation.  In 
her  long  toilsome  pilgrimages,  in  her  arduous 
search  through  the  entire  range  of  Sanscrit  litera- 
ture for  some  satisfying  truth,  the  Church  will 
see  the  impotence  of  Hinduism  taken  at  its  high- 
est. In  her  remarkable  combination  of  executive, 
intellectual  and  religious  powers,  in  her  great 
work  for  thousands  of  India’s  widows,  in  her  un- 
hesitating loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  and  her  humble 
service  for  Him,  in  what  she  was,  even  more  than 
what  she  has  done,  the  world  may  see  what  an 
India  soul  may  be  when  possessed  by  Christ ! ” 


THE  AMERICAN  RAMABAI 
ASSOCIATION 


President 

MRS.  ARTHUR  PERRY,  Boston. 
Vice-Presidents 

REV.  HARLAN  P.  BEACH,  D.D.,  New  Haven. 
REV.  LYMAN  ABBOTT,  D.D.,  New  York. 
REV.  D.  D.  ADDISON,  D.D.,  Brookline. 

REV.  GEORGE  A.  GORDON,  D.D.,  Boston. 
REV.  ALEXANDER  MANN,  D.D.,  Boston. 


Treasurer 

MR.  EDGAR  C.  LINN,  1318  Beacon  St.,  Brookline,  Mass. 

Corresponding  Secretary 

MISS  CLEMENTINA  BUTLER, 

Wesleyan  Building,  Boston. 

Recording  Secretary 

MISS  ALICE  H.  BALDWIN, 

233  Fisher  Ave.,  Brookline. 


Managers 

MISS  CLEMENTINA  BUTLER. 
MISS  ANNA  H.  CHACE. 

MRS.  E.  C.  E.  DORION. 

MISS  ANTOINETTE  P.  GRANGER. 
MRS.  C.  O.  DORCHESTER. 

MR.  A.  M.  FRITCHLEY. 


95 


96 


PANDITA  RAMABAI  SARASVATI 


MISS  S.  B.  RICH. 

MR  HENRY  FAIRBANKS. 

MRS.  THEODORE  S.  LEE. 

MRS.  JAMES  McKEEN. 

MRS.  S.  W.  LEE-MORTIMER. 

MRS.  HENRY  W.  PEABODY. 

MRS.  ARTHUR  PERRY. 

JULIA  MORTON  PLUMMER,  M.D. 
ARTHUR  K.  STONE,  M.D. 

MRS.  W.  H.  THURBER. 

REV.  ROBERT  A.  HUME,  D.D. 

(Ahmednagar,  India). 


Executive  Committee 

MISS  CLEMENTINA  BUTLER,  Chairman, 

Wesleyan  Bldg.,  Boston. 
MISS  ANNA  H.  CHACE,  Providence,  R.  I. 

MRS.  C.  O.  DORCHESTER,  West  Newton,  Mass. 
MRS.  HENRY  W.  PEABODY,  Beverly,  Mass. 
MRS.  T.  S.  LEE,  Boston,  Mass. 

MRS.  S.  W.  LEE-MORTIMER,  Boston,  Mass. 

Principal  of  Sharada  Sadan  and  Mukti 
MISS  LISSA  HASTIE. 


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DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD 


#3523PI  Printed  in  USA 


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